Principal Swept Away by Volunteer Cleanup

Deborah Mesko, principal of Cambridge Elementary School, knew that university students were going to donate their time to clean up the school.

But she was not prepared for the force that whirled through her campus in just one day last weekend.

“It’s hard to believe,” she said of the 60 Chapman University students and administrators who showed up for the volunteer effort. “They cleaned out closets, they planted flowers, they painted, they organized materials, they put in a little border in the kindergarten area. They were working that hard the entire time with smiles on their faces. It was so touching. I was in awe.”

The project was part of orientation for the 850 freshmen who started classes at the university Monday. For about eight years, the school has run a program called Getting Involved in Volunteer Efforts, or GIVE, which gives nonprofit groups and cities a willing work force and allows students a chance to bond with other freshmen, university spokesperson Ruth Wardwell said.

“Chapman University focuses on commitment to service,” Wardwell said. “If we bring in new students and orient them to the notion that community service is a good thing, hopefully they’ll carry it with them.”

The students who heaved and hoed at Cambridge also applied some technological know-how, including reorganizing the campus computer lab to give students better access to the Internet, Mesko said.

“These kids are the greatest,” she added.