MILWAUKEE -- The new Milwaukee Public Schools school year begins September 1st. When students and staff return, they will come back to spruced up schools.
Volunteers from GE Healthcare spent their community service day at Milwaukee's Siefert School and more than 20 other area schools.
"It's really important. We try. We try hard. We all live here. We play here. We have fun here. It's important to give back to the community," said Tom Westrick, chief quality officer at GE Healthcare.
More than 2,100 workers volunteered. GE Healthcare ultrasound engineer Pete Macakanja said they cleaned and organized classrooms, "but then also big common areas like painting in the lunchroom, repainting playground items, working on the basketball courts, actually building benches and tables for kids to sit at."
Volunteers like Kelsey Stewart call it exciting, "I've actually only been at GE for two months so this is my first time but it's awesome. There are so many people here that have been doing it for so many years. It's great to see that camaraderie and everybody coming back each year."
MPS superintendent Darienne Driver thinks it is a great way to kickoff the new school year, "When we pulled up there's actually kids watching from the corner to see what's happening now. And over at Townsend, kids were helping us already with planting and digging up dirt so I think they're really excited. It just makes them feel like they're coming home and that's what we want for our kids and our teachers."
