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Boardman Center Extreme Makeover gains large support
Volunteers give Boardman School a
By Bruce Walton
BOARDMAN
The Boardman Center Intermediate School extreme makeover began this week with help from volunteers overflowing with generosity to help create a more aesthetically pleasing school environment.
The makeover was planned this week to accommodate incoming fifth- and sixth-graders after the implementation of the school district’s building realignment plan.
The district’s seventh- and eighth-grade students will attend the newly renamed Boardman Glenwood Junior High School in the coming school year.
Superintendent Frank
Lazzeri said adding a better, new environment for the students and teachers, new and old, will help benefit the school as a whole.
“If you have an environment that’s vibrant and exciting, teachers will feed off of that; students will feed off of that; and the result will be increased achievement on the part of our kids,” he said.
The school received a large amount of help through its staff, former students, local church and community organizations as well as local companies and corporations donating their time, effort, money, supplies and workforce.
Principal Randall Ebie said the school probably saved thousands from the help they’ve received. The community aid for the makeover included more than $6,000 in monetary donations and nearly 150 volunteers, who are providing an average of 16 to 20 hours each day divided into three shifts from morning to evening.
The makeover will include repainting the main hallways, doors and lockers, and adding new photographs and paintings from local artists in the building.
The school also plans outdoor renovations.
Gasearch, a local natural-gas company, also helped with the project. The company gave a sizable monetary donation and sent eight workers to volunteer at the school Monday evening to paint the third-floor hallways.
Eric Wright, president of Gasearch, was among the eight volunteers from the company. He said the work they have done for the school wouldn’t help only the school, but benefit everyone in the community, including themselves as a company based in Youngstown.
“We’re not really looking to use this money to expand our brand,” he said. “We’re actually looking just to expand our community.”
After this week, Ebie said he and a couple of his administrative assistants will spend the rest of the week putting the finishing touches on the makeover to have it ready for the 2016-17 school year.
The school still will accept donations. Lazzeri said he expects big things from this project next school year, including increased excitement as well as achievement in the students and teachers.