Erik's Eagle Project

On Saturday, May 22, about 30 volunteers in total from our church, Lars' sister, and Lars' mom (she made a surprise trip over from New Mexico) gathered at Pueblo Middle School (where Erik went to school and Sarah is going into 8th grade) to perform a community service project for the teachers. The lounge where they eat and relax was outdated, and had not been painted or changed since the school opened in the 1980's.

BEFORE

The first pictures of the lounge are the "before" pictures. Notice the salmon colored chairs and kitchen with the blue/grey carpet. Was totally in style in the 1980's! The teachers wanted someone to give the walls some color and make it a more inviting place. The school district is replacing the carpet next year with browns/tans, but not the furniture. Thanks to the generous donations from family, friends, church members, Home Depot and Lowe's, we were able to do a bit more than paint. We also weeded the outside entrance where everyone comes in from (special thanks to Lynn Slawson and Terry Starks), reupholstered all the chairs (special thanks to Charlotte, Miriam and Cindy and Paul Lines), and covered the ugly tables with new tablecloths (special thanks to Target).

IN PROGRESS
About 25 members of our church, family and a father/son (who had already been to one Eagle project that morning!) from Erik's wrestling group came to help with labor. We were very glad that no one was injured and no major spills on the carpet. Most volunteers got the painting done in three hours. Two walls are a light olive green and two walls are a buttery yellow. Some volunteers stayed 1-2 hours longer to help decorate. The only major glitch was the paint for the steel doors was not the correct type and so wouldn't adhere long-term. Lars and Erik had to come back up to school to remove the paint off the doors. I think Erik liked taking the paint off more than putting it on!

EXTRAS

Not part of the Eagle project, but something that I thought the teachers would appreciate, was to paint the pink cabinets another color. After a lunch break, a young woman from our church, Kylie Slawson, who wanted to help me decorate went back with me to paint the kitchenette cabinets with a special new paint just for Formica, and then Kylie and I added our "woman's touch" with decor that I was able to find mostly at yard sales and Goodwill for bargain basement prices. The couch was a steal from Craigslist.

FINALLY!

We are so proud of him for accomplishing this capstone task to attain the Eagle rank in Scouts. He's a wonderful young man. We are also extremely grateful and thank the members of our ward and family for providing the funds and labor to make this project happen. It was a fun project and we hope the teachers enjoy the new look and feel!