School gets much-needed TLC

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s example of service drew 200 volunteers Monday to West Seattle Elementary, helping revitalize a school in transition.

High Point and Fairmount Park elementaries merged this year to become West Seattle Elementary. After the name change, families and staff members went about making two communities into one.

It wasn't always easy in a school that already faced challenges.

West Seattle Elementary is adjacent to the old High Point public-housing project, which is being rebuilt into a new neighborhood. More than 80 percent of the school's students are poor enough to qualify for free and reduced-price lunches. Many are learning English as a second language. There is no PTA.

Monday's service project was one of several events in Seattle to honor King's birthday. A rally and march took place at noon in South Seattle, and a daylong event was held at Seattle Center.

U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Seattle, and Gov. Christine Gregoire praised volunteers in West Seattle for following King's call to service and taking action. King is more than an icon, Gregoire said. He was a human being who showed that people can make a difference.

"As we merged, I had this vision of the community wrapping its arms around our school and our families, and this is that happening," West Seattle Elementary principal Gayle Everly told volunteers Monday.

Seattle Works helped secure a $20,000 Home Depot supply-budget grant, and City Year Seattle rounded up volunteers for the project. As they set to work, murals appeared in classroom doorways and on the gym wall. White hallways turned a welcoming green. Buckets of flowers bloomed by the entrances.

"Martin Luther King had a dream that all people of different colors would work together to make a difference," said Neeloker Vahora, an Evergreen High School sophomore wielding a paint roller Monday.

Next to her, Chief Sealth High School sophomore Tiesha Love was trying out volunteering for the first time. She graduated from High Point Elementary, so she knows the school doesn't have a lot of parent involvement and can't afford the extras that other schools can.

"It's helping out the community, and this is one of the things [King] said to do," she said.

Emily Heffter: 206-464-8246 or eheffter@seattletimes.com