rejuveNATION-Las Vegas
—In metro Las Vegas, the pilot location 
is Edna F. Hinman Elementary School
which serves a neighborhood in which 67% of its 750
students are eligible for the free or reduced lunch program based on their
parents’ income.
Erected in 1986, the Clark County School District
(CCSD) has refurbished the school building once (in 2003). At
that time, the air conditioning system was updated, floors were
re-carpeted and the walls (all of them) were repainted the same shade
of blue. The school does not have parents that can write checks and
fundraising is very difficult. Hence, anything that happens to this
school is on the staff’s shoulders and pocketbooks.
Incredible excitement was growing—even before any work had been done.
According to Hinman's principal, Dr Angulo, the "...new coat of paint will give that extra boost that we need next year to keep enduring. Thank you so much for this opportunity; it truly is about the students.”
To give you an idea of what’s happening specifically here in Las Vegas, seven corporations have committed to take part in rejuveNATING Hinman Elementary.
Starting Saturday, June 30th, a team of 40 from First Baptist Church of Henderson, Kentucky made amazing progress at the school. Surpassing the goal of preparing all of the school's hallways, the team effectively launched the rejuveNATION project in Las Vegas by:
- prepping all of the school's hallways and 9 1/2 classrooms
- painting 8 classrooms (>4800 sq ft of wall space)
- donating more than $500 worth of paint supplies (brushes, pans, tape, coolers, and a ladder) toward the rejuveNATION of Hinman
- conducting three days of community outreach programs in three different locations (2 in Henderson, 1 in North Vegas), providing free lunch each day for all participants
At the end of their time, Principal Angulo commented that...
"The painting looks good and those kids and adults were amazing. I thanked them, but, I just want you to know how impressed I was with them! If all of our American youth were like them, we'd have no problems in this country."
Click here for a photo gallery of the progress.
Beginning July 7th, the Joint Apprenticeship & Training Committee (JATC) of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 15 joined the rejuveNATION of Hinman Elementary—committing to donate four days each week for following three weeks.
Beginning with the corridors, the JATC teams not only painted, but also hung wall-coverings to incorporate accent walls in the hallways and in each of the classrooms!
In only 4 short days, the JATC pros painted every corridor, hung wall covering in each alcove and began hanging wall covering on the whiteboard walls in several classrooms.
While the JATC crew was hard at work in the hallways, volunteers from Hope Baptist Church continued preparing and painting classrooms.
Click here for a photo gallery of the progress.
During the week of July 14th, the JATC pros completed what was originally estimated as three weeks of work in only their second week (8 days) at the site!
EMBARQ sent 17 volunteers who invested more than 130 hours in the rejuveNATION of Hinman.
Further, Sherwin-Williams, who are true heroes in this project, brought volunteers on Saturday to help paint accent walls in the school's annex.
Also, this week, professional muralists began using their gifts—painting murals on the canvases of the freshly painted walls.
Additionally, multiple local churches rallied volunteers to join in on the rejuveNATION progress...
During the week of July 21st, Re/Max Associates sent 21 volunteers and invested more than 100 hours in the rejuveNATION of Hinman Elementary.
Their employees brought great excitement and energy and huge hearts
desiring to make a difference—demonstrating Re/Max's commitment to
improving and giving back to the local communities it markets.
Also, Refuge (the student ministry of Hope Baptist Church) brought a team of 40 volunteers to jump start the final days of the project—cleaning classrooms, hallways, playgrounds and more...
Throughout the week, volunteers from several local churches—Hope, The River, Hana Korean— continued to help...especially on Saturday, when more than 30 volunteers converged to continue the clean-up process and finish painting in the school's annex.
Week 4 also saw the completion of several murals...
Click here for a photo gallery of the progress.
During the week of July 28th, two more teams wrapped up the project. Volunteers from National Youth Sports sent 7 volunteers, including West Coast Regional Director, Justin Phelps, on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Not only did they paint, they selflessly cleaned (including carpet, doors, even a refrigerator!) as well as helped teachers rearrange their rooms—moving 
heavy file cabinets and bookshelves. Joining them, for the entire week, was a team of 17 from Valleydale Baptist Church (Birmingham, AL) who wishes to introduce rejuveNATION into their community once they return. With several team members being public school teachers themselves, not only did this team finish painting the Teacher's Lounge, they, too helped many of the teachers—especially the newcomers—arranging their classrooms...and one even established a cross-country 4th grade-to-4th grade pen-pal relationship between their classes. Additionally, this team purchased more than $1300 of school supplies (paper, pencils, markers, crayons, glue, etc) to help teachers who each year must purchase supplies out of their own pockets to have the necessary supplies in their classrooms for students in need.
The transformation achieved in only five weeks is truly astounding! 259 volunteers invested more than 4130 volunteer hours in this project—in which:
32,500+ sqft of wall space was covered with fresh paint or vinyl wall covering
$15,000+ Gifts-In-Kind were donated to the project
$107,350+ in the value of Volunteer Hours was amassed!
Click here for a photo gallery of the progress.
Wrapping It Up...two more important dates
During the week of August 18th, a Teacher's Appreciation luncheon was sponsored (Wednesday, August 20th) by The River church. The luncheon, served by a professional chef, provided the teachers an opportunity to meet and interact with the leaders of local partners who participated in the rejuveNATION of their school.
On Friday, August 22nd, rejuveNATION and its partners sponsored a
block party in Hinman's multi-purpose room coinciding with the school's
open house. After the students and their parents met their teachers,
they entered the multi-purpose room as the new face of the school was
unveiled to CCSD officials Bridget Bilbray-Phillips (Director, School-Community Partnership Program), Patrick Skorkowsky (Assistant Region Superintendent, South East Region) and Sheila Moulton (Trustee, School Board, District G). The 'unveiling' was an opportunity to introduce them and the community to all the partners—the heroes—who participated in the rejuveNATION of the school.
Hundreds of students and their parents participated in games with
school supplies as prizes... Between turns in the bounce-houses, games,
and face-painting, the students were served popcorn and snow cones and
were treated to a special presentation by Culture Shock, a hip-hop
dance group.
Click here for a photo gallery of the progress.
RADIO Interviews:
Recently, interviews with two local radio stations regarding rejuveNATION were aired in prime listening slots. To listen, click on the links below:
Join the rejuveNATION