Embrace Shoreline Schools on Saturday, May 15

The 3rd annual Embrace Shoreline Schools Day will be held on Saturday, May 15 from 9 am to noon at schools throughout the Shoreline School District.

The event is a joint effort between the school district, neighborhood associations, area churches, community members and the PTA to beautify our school grounds. All community members are invited to join in. Volunteers are encouraged to bring gloves and hand tools.

In 2008, a group of faith-based organizations in Shoreline and Lake Forest Park, led by Pastor Steve Ulmer of New Hope-Seattle, wanted to find a way to serve the community.

With the Shoreline School District having a tight budget, many of the school grounds were in need of some cleanup and landscaping. The first Embrace Shoreline Schools (ESS) event was held in May of 2008. Spearheaded by Pastor Ulmer’s efforts, each Shoreline/Lake Forest Park school was paired with a local church. Area neighborhood associations, service club members, and PTSA members joined them cleaning up and weeding the school grounds.

The end result was 10 truckloads of weeds and litter being removed from school grounds. Bark and wood chips were spread at several locations. In some places new vegetation was planted. Most importantly, the community working together built some new relationships with each other and the schools. The second annual event was equally successful in 2009.

On May 15, each of Shoreline’s schools and PTAs are again paired with at least one church or neighborhood association. For a complete list of contacts, visit Embrace Shoreline Schools on the web.

Projects may include such tasks as gardening and maintenance, pruning, weeding, and other needs identified by the schools themselves.

The goal of Embrace Shoreline Schools is to see every church, PTSA and neighborhood association in Shoreline and Lake Forest Park involved in working on the school grounds. Many of the schools’ community partners have held work parties in the months between the Embrace Shoreline Schools events.

Photos by Diane Pickrel