RESEDA : Student Leaders Tackle Graffiti Around School

Armed with brushes, rollers and gallons of white, gray and beige paint, student leaders at Reseda High School went door to door Wednesday to clean graffiti off residents’ walls, fences and earthquake storage bins.

The students in Reseda’s leadership class had sent letters to neighbors weeks ago offering to clean for free the marks left by taggers.

“The people who responded were thrilled that we were doing this,” leadership director Jay Shaffer said. “Some of the block walls we painted were marked so much that their original color was completely covered over.”

Using the school’s connection with “Operation Sparkle,” a citywide graffiti cleanup program coordinated by police officers and district schools, student Sara Scalda acquired rollers, brushes and 25 gallons of paint from the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Valley station.

“We wanted to clean those areas because it really makes our school look bad when there’s graffiti all over the place,” said Sara, a senior. “I’m hoping this becomes a tradition at Reseda High.”

The students concentrated their energies Wednesday on the neighborhood near the north side of campus, where the leadership classroom is located. But Shaffer said leftover supplies may allow them to expand their efforts.

“Another fellow responded who lives way over on the south side of the school,” Shaffer said. “We didn’t use all of our paint. So, if we get any more calls for business, we’ll be ready to go.”