In early August, a group of volunteers from Brightspot headed to Buzz Aldrin Elementary School in Reston, Virginia, to help the school expand its outdoor learning experiences. Adorned in old jeans and muddy sneakers, the volunteers were tasked with transforming the garden and helping to create an outdoor amphitheater/classroom for students and teachers to use year-round.
During the project, volunteers assisted with a number of tasks, including weeding and tilling the garden; leveling, debarking, sanding and sealing 30 donated tree stumps; and creating rock pathways throughout the garden to make it easier for children to explore. Despite sweating through a hot afternoon while lugging 165 bags of rocks, and chipping away at stump-after-stump, there was no shortage of fun.
Brightspot Employees Working Hard at Buzz Aldrin Elementary
Brightspot employee Crystel Harmon said she enjoyed bonding with her coworkers and listening to the staff from Aldrin explain why the outdoor classroom is such a wonderful addition to the elementary school. Justin Stegura’s favorite part of the day was looking at the garden after they’d put the finishing touches on it.
This outing at Aldrin Elementary follows Brightspot’s back-to-school supply drive with the school. Employees from Brightspot sponsored 55 students, providing them with school supplies in preparation for the first day of classes.
Aldrin is gearing up for our outdoor learning space thanks to Reston Based Perfect Sense! @fcpsnews @FCPSSupt @FCPSSTEAM @FCPSRegion1 @PerfectSenseDig pic.twitter.com/kTOkhyVGV4
— Aldrin Eagles (@AldrinEagles) August 2, 2019
“At Brightspot, one of the pillars of our mission is youth,” remarked Parker Ramsdell, who leads the company’s mission-related projects. “Our aim is to form a long-lasting partnership with Aldrin that allows our employees the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of their students. Our first two projects—improving the outdoor learning space and the back-to-school supply drive—were a huge success. We are very excited to do more with Aldrin throughout the year and grow this partnership into something truly special.”
@AldrinEagles appreciates the generous donation of backpacks filled with supplies from @PerfectSenseDig !! They truly represent what it means to be #onefairfax @fcpsnews @FCPSRegion1 @Followfairfax #otherpeoplematter pic.twitter.com/nLVWH67WXj
— Aldrin Eagles (@AldrinEagles) August 8, 2019