The Selma Times-Journal

Twelve-year-old Dominique Smith and 11-year-olds Iverianna Williams and Jurni Owden made a big sacrifice Saturday morning.

Rather than sleeping in on their weekend off, the School of Discovery (SOD) sixth graders spent the day beautifying their campus as part of Fall Volunteer Clean-Up Day.

Parents and faculty joined the students in removing branches, shoveling excess soil, cutting grass, trimming lawn edges, raking and bagging leaves and revamping the school’s Mallieve Breeding Butterfly Garden, which is used as an outdoor classroom to study the life cycle of butterflies, said SOD Counselor Carol Cleveland as she planted purple pansies.

Volunteers wrapped up their duties at noon and were rewarded with a spaghetti lunch prepared by PTO member Lorie Hawkins.

Roughly 20 people took part in Clean-Up Day, which began at 7 a.m., said SOD Principal Gerald Shirley. Shirley credited the PTO for introducing the project and said a second Clean-Up Day will occur in the spring.

Like Shirley, Jurni hopes more people &045; especially her peers &045; will get their hands dirty the next time around.