City helps clean area schools

School won't be the same today for thousands of Philadelphia students. Classrooms are cleaner, graffiti has vanished and playgrounds are sparkling. More than 1,000 volunteers dedicated their time Saturday to making these improvements, as part of the second annual "Philadelphia Cares Day." The event, which was sponsored by Philadelphia Cares, Inc., coordinated volunteers from businesses, community organizations and schools to beautify and improve more than 45 Philadelphia public schools. According to Ralph Fox, Philadelphia Cares Day co-executive director, the purpose of the day was to "raise awareness of the needs of the Philadelphia area." At the early morning kickoff rally behind Memorial Hall at Fairmount Park, Mayor Ed Rendell spoke about the needs of the Philadelphia school system. "Our schools fight a difficult battle," he said. "They're under-funded and under-staffed." University students participated by renovating school buildings and grounds, most of which are in the West Philadelphia area. Various fraternities, sororities and college houses were also represented. Nursing senior Sally Fry painted over graffiti at Henry C. Lea Elementary School with other members of the Phi Sigma Sigma sorority and Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. "We live here," she said. "We might as well help to make it better." Wharton junior Clint Schmidt agreed. "I think the people here really appreciate what we're doing," he said as he moved a ladder in order to paint the top of a portable building. Lea School Principal Bruce Bogdanoff said he was very appreciative of the volunteers' efforts. "We are accomplishing in eight hours what our custodians would do in five weeks," he said, pointing out the clean beige walls that were once covered with graffiti. Bogdanoff, Lea Vice Principal Wayland Wilson and two Lea teachers spent the day painting alongside Deke and Phi Sig members. But they were not the only ones appreciative of the day's accomplishments. Neighbors and passers-by raved to Bogdanoff about the school's new appearance. Lea seventh-grader Abdinasir Hassan, taking a break from a neighborhood basketball game, said he liked his school's walls better without graffiti. "I don't think they will stay this way, but I hope they will," he added. According to Wilson, graffiti appears on freshly painted walls every year at the Lea School. A day's worth of improvements may not last forever, but Co-Executive Director of Philadelphia Cares Day Lissa Hilsee said the effort will not go unnoticed. "Those kids on Monday morning will know that people care about them," she said.