Sweat equity was the name of the game as 75 plus alumni and their families painted, cleaned, shampooed and updated several areas of campus during Social/Service Weekend at the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts.
Approximately 135 people participated, traveling from as far away as Colorado, South Carolina and Massachusetts.
Projects included building six picnic tables for the residence halls, painting the floor in the Music and Arts Building painting room, cleaning upholstered benches in the Art Gallery, cleaning the walls in Caddo, installing curtains on Caddo kitchen cabinets, pressure washing the front of the High School Building and Caddo front entrance, painting curbs in front of Caddo and Prudhomme halls, updating records in the Foundation database, repairing damaged textbooks, painting outdoor handrails and bike rack in courtyard, cleaning light fixtures in Caddo, shampooing carpet in the board room, collecting abandoned bikes and moving them to storage, cleaning the grill at Caddo, tightening screws on chairs at Caddo and installing a stepping stone path behind the MAB.
“The weekend was very successful,” said Jennifer Stewart, a graduate of the class of 1993. “We self-funded our weekend, for the first time, through our small meal fee and donations. The project list was completed. Everyone ate well and visited with the members of the tribe they love the most. Attendance for the weekend was at an all-time high and only has the potential to be better every year to come.”
Social/Service Weekend is an annual event that allows LSMSA alumni and their families to return to Natchitoches to perform service projects in and around the LSMSA campus that the school may not otherwise be able to complete.
“Alumni from all over the country return for two days, taking residence in our old dormitories to ‘rough it’ and execute these tasks,” said Stewart. “We also use the opportunity to reminisce about the good old days.”
The event began in 2008 when about a dozen alumni worked in Caddo reupholstering desk chairs, replacing ceiling tiles, painting and much more.
