Perry High School students in ninth through 12th grade spent much of their Wednesday helping out the community.
It was the annual homecoming week Volunteer Day. Students had a choice of projects to help with including everything from picking up garbage to planting trees, painting to playing with children.
Perry Parks and Recreation Director John Anderson worked with around 100 students in the Brownfields area where they’ve started a tree farm. He says working with the teens was a great experience.
“Definitely a lot of them had never used a hammer before, so there was a bit of a learning curve. The first stretch of fence went pretty rough and it took a while but once they caught on and figured it out, it was great. So in the end it probably around three hours here and we got the whole entire fence done.”
Junior cheerleader Skylar Cunningham chose to use her creative skills instead.
“We’re painting windows on Volunteer Day to give the downtown some school sprit for homecoming.”
Fellow cheerleader Brianna Ackerman says Volunteer Day is something they all look forward to.
“It helps us learn good leadership skills and all that, and helping our community.”
Students are also able to use the time they spent helping out as community service hours needed before graduation.