Work Day #1 And so it begins...

Today we had our first Leader In Me Work Day!  Although I am feeling muscles I haven't felt since my early 40's, it was a day well spent.  Here are some of our projects:

Power washing the front of the building.  FYI, in the interest of full disclosure it should be mentioned that power washing one's toe is painful and it will blast several layers of skin right off that little toe before you know it. No, it wasn't my toe and no, I didn't get a picture.  Sorry.

Painting the walkway up to the school.  This is not finished yet, but a work in progress.  Our school colors are silver and blue.  The plan is to paint each of the 7 habits on the blue areas.  We can't wait to see it!

Spray painting planters blue and silver and planting lovely plants in each planter.  Every class will have plants for the students to care for, which we hope will  foster responsibility and develop student pride in our facilities.  I did notice the teachers were a little free and easy with the spray paint and all went home with silver and blue hands, arms and legs.  Party animals.

Rock climbing wall for the gym.  Is that not the most amazing thing?  I didn't even know you could do that in a gym.  Sadly, my rock wall climbing days are over.  Actually, they never really began.  Our P.E. teacher, Coach C. is a beast!

Mural painting in the front entry way.  Evan and Jessica are our resident newlyweds.  Turns out hubby is a Graphic Arts major and an Art minor. Bonus!  Guys, just so you know, if you marry a teacher, you WILL be pressed into service.  I think it should be mentioned in the wedding vows.

Landscaping the front entryway.  This job actually took two days to finish because we hit a rather stubborn layer of rock hard caliche about 4 inches down. Gotta love Texas!  After rejecting the idea of using dynamite to pulverize the layer, we decided to lay down extra top soil instead.  Not nearly as exciting or fun, but much safer... and legal.   Now that's what I call Synergizing!  I dug some holes and it only took me 4 hours, because I had to rest between each hole.  A lot.

Aaron and Santiago from Templeton's Equipment brought a Bobcat (the machine, not the animal) and dug out some previous landscaping that had seen better days, moved rocks and laid down some railroad ties in front of the school.  Aaron is Kami Winter's (our counselor) husband and graciously agreed to come from 8:00-12:00 and stayed until almost 4.

Thanks to Arrow Ford and WalMart, we have a ton of school supplies to sort and distribute.  It was a lot of work, but a labor of love.  For our families who have several children in school, providing school supplies for each child can be a financial burden.  The school supplies will be a God send to these families.

Suzanne, our Energizer Bunny of a principal is already thinking ahead to Work Day #2, tentatively set for a Saturday in October.  We will be inviting parents and students to join us and I am hopeful they will.  I don't think I can do the hole digging thing again so soon.

A big, big thank you to Templeton's Equipment, WalMart, Arrow Ford and Lowes.  We couldn't have done this without you!  Also a HUGE thank you to all the husbands, children, and siblings of staff and faculty members who came out to work on a lovely Saturday when they could have been sipping a cold drink by the pool.  






You are now honorary Ortiz All Stars!  Which means you are all invited to Work Day #2! You're welcome!