PennCorps helps repair school

A week before classes even began, a group of 50 freshmen were already busy working on a special assignment in West Philadelphia. Last Saturday, PennCorps volunteers gathered at Shaw Middle School -- near 54th Street and Warrington Avenue -- to fix-up the aging building. Teachers at Shaw and West Philadelphia residents joined students who came to the University four days early to participate in community service activities. At Shaw, the group re-painted walls and chairs, applied anti- graffiti glaze and planted flowers outside the school. College freshman Audra Soloway said she looked at the project as a way to give the Shaw students a better educational environment. "I went to a high school where everything was already nice," Soloway said. "Even a little thing like painting the chairs is important. The students have a right to it." Wharton freshman and PennCorps volunteer Brian Stafford felt the clean-up project is improving relations between the surrounding neighborhoods and the University. "We want to become part of the community," Stafford said. "We do not want to take it over." Corey Bowman, an Education and Wharton graduate student and assistant director of the Penn Program for Public Service, helped coordinate the project at Shaw. "This is a major effort because it kicks off a program to restore the school and build relations with the community," Bowman said. For other PennCorps members, the community service programs allow students to become better acquainted with the University. "I've done a lot of community service before coming to Penn," College freshman Mike Pollack said. "I wanted to get to know people and find out my volunteer options here." Rosalind Greenberg, a College junior and a PennCorps coordinator, said this is a main purpose of the projects. "This program really helps first-year students make the transition to Penn," Greenberg said. "It makes the students feel like part of the community." For the people who live near or work in the school, the additional elbow grease from University students was needed relief. Lewis Johnson, who lives across the street from the school, said he has seen the school fall into disrepair because of an increase in graffiti and vandalism in recent years. Elsa Schatzberg, a counselor at Shaw, said it is necessary to maintain the school because it keeps students off the violent streets. "It is worse today because of the drugs and the crime," Schatzberg said. "I see these kids and I can't believe what they have been through by the age of 10." University President Judith Rodin graduated from Shaw Middle School. Later this year she will be inducted into the school's Hall of Fame.