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Midvale Journal

A refreshed Copperview awaits students return

Jul 31, 2018 02:44PM ● By Julie Slama

Copperview Elementary students use pom-poms and feathers to create masks during their cultural night. (Jenna Landward/Copperview Elementary)

By Julie Slama | [email protected] 

At 57 years, Copperview is looking good. 

Thanks to a facelift with Comcast Cares Day toward the end of the school year, the elementary school not only glowed for the end-of-year activities, but also is spic-and-span as about 475 students come to class this month. 

“We had more than 300 students, families and community members help upgrade the look of our school,” said Jenna Landward, Copperview community school facilitator. “The volunteers were amazing.”

Landward said that Comcast reached out to the Canyons Education Foundation, who in turn put them in touch with Copperview as well as East Midvale Elementary. Comcast provided T-shirts, food and supplies for the projects, such as a wheelbarrow to help the volunteers who were weeding both the flowerbeds in front of the school as well as the community garden. 

Parent volunteer Griselda Hernandez volunteered to help in the garden, pulling weeds before she coordinated the planting of vegetables and fruit with other parents. 

“I like to help out a lot and be involved in my kids’ school,” she said. “The garden had a lot of weeds, but now we have tomatoes, onions, cilantro, peppers, carrots, strawberries and cantaloupe. It’s important to give something back to the community. Now, their school is nice and clean and it’s good the kids can see that they need to take care of their school.” 

Volunteers also painted the red curb, parking stripes and pick up and drop off zones outside the school and inside, the cafeteria as well as 8-inch color stripes in the hallways to direct students to their corresponding color grade-level classrooms. 

Fourth-grade teacher Abigail Muller said that she had parents and kids helping organize the library of books in her classroom. 

“I had the kids organize the books in a way that makes sense to them,” she said. “A lot of my students don’t have books at home, so this way, they can find the books they want in a neat, organized manner.” 

Landward said that families and volunteers helped in all the classrooms. 

“They cleaned every classroom, every desk, every chair and sanitized them all. They cleaned the bathroom, scrubbed the walls, made the windows sparkle. The big group of people did all the projects super fast,” she said, estimating that they completed tasks within three hours. “It was amazing. We figured it saved our custodian at least 1,400 hours of maintenance and cleaning. It was huge for us. It’s like having a fresh start and a new look.” 

The polished appearance was displayed not only for the school children, but also at the school’s year-end Living Traditions, an art and culture night as well as their dance festival.

Principal Christie Webb said that another 200 students and families came for Living Traditions, which focused on North and South America, from its food to its sports. 

“We had a lot of Hispanic food and played futbol (soccer) as well as showcased the arts,” she said. “A lot of families were having a great time.” 

Families also came to the year-end dance festival, which opened up the doors to the community. 

“We are the center of our community and want people to come here to get help, to be safe and to be a good place to learn,” the principal said. 

Webb, who said that even Midvale Mayor Robert Hale who attended both the dance festival and volunteered to help in the parking lot, said that Comcast Cares Day did more than just clean the school. 

“Our community is taking pride in the school and we realize it’s a place that makes a positive environment for our students,” she said. “It’s a place where they can both achieve and feel safe.”