On April 21, a team of 60 attendees of the Southern Region Sales Meeting helped re-vitalize key facilities at the Success Preparatory Academy (SPA) in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The mission of SPA is to develop college bound students for leadership and lifelong learning. With an enrollment of 540 students, SPA is a kindergarten through 8th grade Charter School that serves some of the most at-risk children in the country. The school was founded after Hurricane Katrina devastated the already hampered New Orleans School District.
The most challenging part of the project was refurbishing the school’s 3000 sq. ft. library and assembly area, which had been untouched since the school’s inception over 30 years ago. The team faced added pressure knowing that the project had to be completed, and the library functional, for the opening bell of school the next morning.
To perform a quick turnaround, the group divided into project teams to tackle numerous tasks simultaneously. Inside, the team erected scaffolding to roll two coats of paint on the 20 foot walls. Floor scrapers and rollers were handed out to replace old adhesive with new adhesive. Once complete, another team laid over 3,000 sq .ft. of carpet tile in the school colors. Outside, teams of painters re-painted playground benches and refreshed existing blacktop ground games. Downstairs, a team of gamers created large, four foot by four foot educational Scrabble boards for the students to use. After all the tasks were complete, a group called “The Bucket Brigade” put all shelving and cabinets back in place and re-stocked the shelves with buckets of books that were stored in the hallways.
The project took a full afternoon (and into the night for some) of dedication and teamwork, but the group managed to complete all tasks and leave the school ready for learning the next day. To top it off, Molex donated sports equipment and a projection screen to SPA’s underfunded athletic programs.
The Molex sales team left the school feeling a sense of accomplishment and pride in helping a community and its youth grow stronger.