A line of ants went marching one by one across the wall of Williams Elementary School on Saturday, their newly painted antennae pointing toward a meandering green turtle just outside the school’s music room. Not to be outmatched, a bright yellow and black bumble bee smiled from across the hall and landed above orange letters reminding all to “Be Proactive.”
The colorful and whimsical characters being added to the walls of Williams were just one part of a greater mission. Last weekend, Wave City Care assembled a team of more than 200 Wave Church volunteers to perform a much-needed makeover at Williams.
Outside of the school building, volunteers clad in white Wave City Care T-shirts shoveled mulch from the bed of a truck, trimmed shrubbery and prepped the school’s outdoor garden boxes for a new season of planting. Others lent a carpenters eye and hand to building benches for students to use during outdoor lessons.
Inside, workers brightened the halls and classrooms of the 1960s building by painting hundreds of panels, doors and door frames in bright primary colors. Artists in the group shared their talents by creating fun character education murals along hallways and in classrooms. Even the gym walls were “dressed up” with sports figure silhouettes.
“Williams Elementary and the entire Bayside community has benefitted from the lovely work that was completed by the wonderful folks from Wave City Care,” said Timothy Sullivan, principal of Williams. “Our school will have a fantastic opening and a great year. Our new friends and partners from Wave City Care are now an integral part of our success.”
Wave City Care, a 501(c)3 organization, is an initiative of Wave Church and is a long-time partner of Virginia Beach City Public Schools. Their work with the school division includes providing volunteers and sponsoring programs such as One Life Mentoring, SHINE Girl self-esteem program, Reading buddies, Back-to-School events, Thanksgiving handouts and a huge Christmas Extravaganza.
“Our mission is to partner with others to enhance our community one life at a time,” said Sue Fitzgerald, vice president of Wave City Care. “What better way to help out the children and families in our community, than by working hand in hand with our local schools? We want students to be excited when they return to school in September ready to learn and grow in their education.”
For more photos from the event, visit our Facebook page.
I helped in the beautification