Seniors Complete Beautification Projects for 2008
Mayor Taylor recognized Tulsa seniors Friday for their efforts in completing Year Two of the High School Beautification Program. The event took place at Central High School.
Central High seniors were proud to display the new version of the school seal. Class officers from 2006, 2007 and 2008 were present to talk with the Mayor about the project. The Central High School Seal Project was completed with the help of monies from WalMart, the senior class fund and Benchmark Monument Company. The new seal is currently on display at Central but will eventually be inserted into the floor of the school’s front foyer.
Teresa Romadon is the Central High School Senior Class Advisor. The Star Spangled Banner was sung by the Central High School choir to conclude the event.
“It is so great for these students to have the opportunity to take ownership and create a legacy which will last for many years,” Taylor said. “I want to thank our Tulsa area WalMarts for once again providing each senior class with $500 in funding to complete their projects.”
After completion, the projects are “willed” to the junior class, which is then responsible for upkeep and expansion of the project as seniors the following year.
“Some of the schools are now creating three-year goals, looking to the future,” Taylor added. “It is exciting to see how each Senior Class is leaving a ‘footprint’ and a challenge for next year’s seniors to follow their lead.”
Tulsa’s high school seniors have worked with Cara Phippen, a volunteer with the Mayor’s Office, to complete the projects. Barbara Marshall, representing Tulsa Public Schools, was present at the event, as was Anna America, executive director of Up With Trees, which assisted with a project at Hale High School.
In 2007, senior classes from all nine high schools completed their first Beautification Project for the program. For their efforts, Mayor Taylor and Tulsa area seniors received the Youth Group Award in the 2007 Keep Oklahoma Beautiful statewide environmental excellence competition.
Most of the students selected outdoor projects to beautify their schools, from landscaping to flower beds, to the construction of an arbor. Tree plantings with assistance from the Up With Trees program served two purposes for Nathan Hale High school; they accomplished their Senior Beautification Project and also helped with the ReGreen Tulsa initiative, a tree planting program which began following the disastrous December 2008 ice storm.
As part of the Hale Project, Captain Adam Balogh of the Tulsa Fire Department, spent his day off from Hazards Materials TFD at the school. After Balogh heard about the Mayor’s High School Beautification program, he offered the service of his stump grinding company to remove stumps from the Hale campus in preparation for the tree planting.