Ronald Bog, Shoreline, Washington 98133 on North 175th near Aurora Church of the Nazarene
Label Ronald Bog in Shoreline WA near Aurora Church of the Nazarene

EMBRACE SHORELINE SCHOOLS

In the spring of 2008, a group of faith-based organizations in Shoreline and Lake Forest Park led by Pastor Steve Ulmer of New Hope-Seattle wanted to find a way to serve the community.

With the Shoreline School District having a tight budget, many of the school grounds were in need of some cleanup and landscaping.

The first Embrace Shoreline Schools (ESS) event was held May 3, 2008. Spearheaded by Pastor Ulmer’s efforts, each Shoreline/Lake Forest Park school was paired with a local church. Area neighborhood associations, service club members, and PTSA members joined them out in the rain and drizzle, cleaning up and weeding the school grounds.

The end result was 10 truckloads of weeds and litter being removed from school grounds. Bark and wood chips were spread at several locations. In some places new vegetation was planted. Most importantly, the community working together built some new relationships with each other and the schools. After the weekend activity, students and teachers returning to school on Monday morning felt valued by their community.
A second event was held last September. As a result of previous efforts the work was easier and every school was included. Dandelions were outnumbered.

The next Embrace Shoreline Schools (ESS) landscaping effort is scheduled for May 16, 9 a.m. to noon. Each of Shoreline’s schools is again paired with at least one church or neighborhood association, and each school’s PTA is participating as well. For a complete list of contacts, visit www.embraceshorelineschools.org. Participants are welcome to join with the area’s PTAs, faith communities and neighborhoods to work on volunteer projects at the District’s schools on that day. Projects may include such tasks as gardening and maintenance, pruning, weeding, and other needs identified by the schools themselves. Please bring your own hand tools and gloves. Volunteers will be on hand to accept donations of new backpacks and school supplies for our students needing support. For more information, visit www.embraceschools.org.

The goal of Embrace Shoreline Schools is to see every church, PTSA and neighborhood association in Shoreline and Lake Forest Park involved in working on the school grounds. Many of the schools’ community partners have held work parties in recent months between the Embrace Shoreline Schools events.

At the spring event on May 16, ESS will team with the Back to School Consortium, encouraging the community to bring donations of new backpacks that will be filled with school supplies and distributed to students in need in August.

The annual Shoreline Back-To-School event provides school supplies, hair cuts, and clothing assistance to Shoreline School District families with a low income and/or circumstances that make it challenging to adequately prepare their children for school. In 2008, more than 650 backpacks filled with school supplies were distributed.

This year’s Back to School event takes place Saturday, Aug. 29 at Ridgecrest Elementary. For more information, visit www.btsconsortium.org.

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