The main entrance to Sparkman School has been made to look more inviting to the students of the school as well as for visitors. The project was undertaken in the summer of 2015 by new principal Layne Dillard with lots of volunteers. | Clif Knight

Clif Knight

Hartselle Enquirer

A makeover  at Sparkman School—new entrance, new paint on walls and a litter free campus—is getting a thumbs up and putting smiles on the faces of students, faculty and visitors.

A clean-up, paint-up fix-up project was undertaken last July when Layne Dillard became principal.

“I saw where some things could be done to make the school a happier, safer place,” said Dillard. “With that in mind, I reached out to teachers and asked for volunteers to serve on several committees, including a Walls and Halls Committee and a First Impressions Committee.

She said the Walls and Halls Committee focused on creating a positive environment in the hallways and school entrance. They worked  on the school atmosphere and creating student friendly hallways and walls.

A multi-color scheme—red, yellow, blue, green etc.– was used to brighten the walls in the elementary halls, and vinyl lettering was attached to walls to represent the seven habits of effective leaders. Colorful bulletin boards were placed  at strategic locations.

A Leadership in Action bulletin board provides space for teachers to leave messages recognizing students who do something worthy of special attention.  An Honor Wall is used to display the photo and a brief write up of an Outstanding Leader, Outstanding Teacher and Outstanding Student every  nine weeks.

The First Impression Committee focused its attention on the school grounds. Picnic tables with umbrellas were added at the southeast corner of the school building and Seven Habits flags and patriotic bunting were added to the main school entrance.

Another improvement was made by relocating the school office to the middle of the building and an entrance lobby was created with safety measures. A visitor information window was installed so that a visitor is able to communicate with  the office secretary without having to enter the classroom area.

Cleaning and sprucing up the school grounds was a project  that received  the help of Traditions Bank employees, according to Dillard.

A representative of the bank came by and saw what we were doing,” Dillard said. “He asked if there was anything they could do to help and we gladly told him any help would be deeply appreciated. Their entire maintenance crew of seven came with all kinds of equipment and worked outside with us for three day. We were able to get so munch done and probably would not have met our open house deadline had it now been for them.”

Dillard pointed out that matching funds from the Morgan county School Board were used to purchase paint and paint supplies for the summer break project.

The rest was  volunteer labor,” she added, “thanks to teachers, students and their parents.”

The makeover in the junior high part of the building was designed by students and done by them during their free time in the first semester.

The hallways were repainted in bright colors and the front entrance to the gym was redone in blue and gold school colors. One wall  provides space for team sports photos and another provides the background for a trophy case.

“What has been done to create a happy school environment has been well received by the students,”Dillard pointed out.”The students now have an ownership interest and have bought in on taking good care of it.”

“We haven’t had a single incident of student vandalism this school year,” she added.

“We like it because it’s a happy school,” was an opinion shared by junior high students Lesley Barnett and Laney Slate.

“It looks like a different school,” said Monse Perez “I like the colors, red is my favorite.”

“I like it because it’s different,” added Tasha Johns. I like to come here everyday.”