Volunteers Beautify Campus on Pride Day

Nearly 200 students and their parents went to work with hoes, rakes and paintbrushes Sunday as part of an annual sprucing up at Calabasas High School dubbed Calabasas Pride Day.

Sometimes the good feeling bubbled over.

One group of students assigned to repaint benches got carried away and started painting each other, using brushes, fingers and hands.

“It was a spontaneous explosion,” said Drew Coppola, a sophomore, who took off his white T-shirt to find that the splatter of paint--in the shape of a hand--had soaked through to his skin.

Meanwhile Becky Gagliardi, a freshman, was coping with a lot of paint in her hair, thanks to a group of friends who good-naturedly ganged up on her. Becky’s older brother has helped out with Calabasas Pride Day since it began in 1993, and her mother acted as an organizer this year. Family traditions are part of the event.

“This gives them something they can pass on to their siblings,” said Liz Ruff, coordinator of this year’s Pride Day. Ruff is the mother of a senior at the school who also lives in the neighborhood.

“The kids have been working very hard and having a lot of fun,” said Deborah Haessig, a parent and member of the school’s Parent-Faculty Committee.

The volunteers--who included student leaders--also planted hundreds of drought-resistant plants around the campus.

“It’s something they can do and come back after they have graduated and still be able to see what they have done,” said Kenny Harvuot, the plant manager for the school.

Food for the volunteers and the plants were donated.

Bob Sutton, the school’s principal, said Pride Day not only helps the campus look better but improves school spirit.

“Kids will come in on Monday and can see that someone has done something for our school,” Sutton said.

“We can all be cognizant that it really is their school.”