A-Team Report: Timberwilde Students Paint the GNW...

Saturday morning was a perfect day for a little painting, some volunteering and a whole lot of fun for a group of over 50 kids, parents and members of Great Northwest's A-Team.The A-Team Coordinator, Mike Yager, kicked things off with a few important words about safety while Timberwilde Elementary teacher Shawn Vidal, made sure the students were ready to get started. And then it was a painting frenzy as volunteers young and old(er) made quick work of the main bridge near Timberwilde Elementary.This bridge has had small patches of paint covering graffiti for almost a year, but with large group of painters, it was quickly covered in a single color.Several of our more experienced painters gave their younger assistants quick on-the-job training and these students were eager to learn.From the bridge, the group moved over to an area that has become an eyesore and a favorite target for taggers; a large cement wall behind the shopping center near Oscar Perez Memorial Park. It was incredible to see how quickly a large group can dispense with months worth of tagging. Astonished residents drove-by wondering what was going on as the transformation was taking place. It was also nice to see that a painting contractor driving by stopped to offer the A-Team some additional paint for future projects. That's the spirit!Following the wall project, the group caravaned over to the Great Northwest Library to paint a long section of privacy fence next to the library that had been another target of taggers. Once again, the enthusiastic group grabbed their paint brushes, spread out and in no time at all had cleaned up another eyesore in the area.As the group finished up, Mike thanked Mr. Vidal and all the volunteers from Timberwilde, and all the A-Team members for their efforts to make the Great Northwest a better place to live and go to school. After all the brushes and buckets of paint were loaded into trucks, the students were off to Timberwilde Elementary for a picnic lunch. And A-Team members headed back to the maintenance shop for clean-up. The A-Team continues to seek interested residents of The GNW who can give an hour of their time on projects like this. As demonstrated by the fine students from Timberwilde Elementary, you don't have to be an expert to make a great impact on a community.

We were pleased to have paint and rollers donated by the City of San Antonio but welcome donations of paint, paint brushes, bottled water and things that make events like this a success. If you want to give it a try, e-mail me and I'll put you in touch with Mike.