Neighborhood Volunteers Spruce Up Beaumont Middle School

If the Portland School District were to offer a guided tour of its elementary and middle school campuses during summer break, what would attendees see? Well, for the most part, nothing very pretty—“lawns” thick in weeds, dried up plants and drooping foliage, an occasional homeless person camping out in the dust. Obviously, regular campus maintenance during the summer is low on the District’s priority-spending list, and residents just have to live with it. Or do we? For civic-minded Cindy Marker and John Thomas, the answer for Beaumont Middle School was to proactively take on the task and mobilize volunteers to help complete it. Thus was launched the “Beaumont Campus Cleanup” project. Cindy and John and a small group of volunteers have begun tackling the job and by the time this newsletter reaches you, which will be after the annual cleanup day on August 24th, they hope to have most of the work on the grounds completed. Their plan going forward is to have periodic maintenance sessions as needed throughout the year so annual cleanups will be a thing of the past. If you would like to be part of the effort to keep Beaumont MS looking great, contact Cindy and John by sending your name, email address, and phone number to CleanBeaumont@gmail.com. Volunteers will be informed regarding when work sessions are planned and what work needs to be done.