Service projects were spread around town throughout the afternoon, with both middle schoolers and high schoolers dedicating a few hours of labor to help the school district, as well as local organizations and businesses who submitted a request for assistance for a variety of projects.
High School projects included:
- Mulching at Winning Wheels
- Cleaning up at the Asa Crook House
- Cleaning the Prophetstown Historical Society Museum
- Cleaning up at the Lyndon ball diamonds and park
- Car washing at the campus
- Readying the flower beds at S.T.R.I.V.E.
- Outdoor landscaping and putting rocks around bushes at the campus
- Removing weeds and adding new mulch at the campus
- Mulching and clean-up at First Lutheran Church
- Outdoor clean-up at Leon Methodist Church
- Outdoor clean-up at Prophetstown United Methodist Church
- Working on the outdoor planters in downtown Prophetstown
- Outdoor clean-up at Tampico Elementary School ‘
- Mulching at Eclipse Square and Triangle Park
- Setting up summer flowers and cook-out area at Shaw’s Marketplace
- Teacher’s Assistants for the day (helping a teacher supervise middle school groups)
- FFA garden prepwork
- FFA members demonstrations at Ag Day at PES
- Prophetstown State Park trail clean-up
- Storage room clean-out at the campus
- Kindness cookies
- Yard cleaning
Middle School projects included:
- Making dog blankets and toys for Happy Tails
- Classroom cleaning
- Campus trash pick-up
- Cards and vases
- Making diamond art suncatchers for nursing homes
- Rock painting and hiding around town
- Tie blankets
- Flowers
One of the projects at the campus was prepping the FFA garden in the lot next to the school, which will also be incorporated into the new Farm to Fork class offered next year. FFA advisor Sara Mosher said they doubled the size of the garden and will be adding raised garden beds, thanks to a grant from the Whiteside County Farm Bureau and Ed Foundation. In addition to food, students will also be growing their own flowers for a floral design class. The helpers also edged the garden and prepped the soil for spring planting. Also at the campus, a group of students removed buckets of rocks for a new garden area and others weeded, raked, and mulched the landscaping around the building. For Ag Day at Prophetstown Elementary School, FFA students showed off chicks and discussed the life cycle of chickens, while another group demonstrated hand tools and power tools.
Students and staff were also treated to a lunch provided by PLTMS PTO, 6-12 Campus, Whiteside County Cattlemen’s Association, and Shaw’s Marketplace, consisting of a cheeseburger or hot dog, chips, cookie, and dink. They could also purchase tacos, lemonade, and coffee, tea, and energy drinks at the food trucks set up by the PLT Unit Office.
Local organizations were grateful for help provided by students and staff, since many hands make light work!
Some of the PLT #3 Community Service Day projects around Prophetstown on Friday, May 8th.
A hard-working team from the high school worked at Eclipse Square Memorial Park in downtown Prophetstown. “The Love Light Tree Committee thanks them very much for all their work on the mulch and all the weeds – it looks wonderful!” said Carolyn Hohenboken.
