Irvington Makes Efforts Towards Campus Beautification

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Andrew Fu and Justin Kim, Opinions Editor and Staff Writer

In the middle of March, maintenance personnel installed a new set of benches in the Irvington courtyard during lunch to replace the old faulty benches, which were a potential safety hazard because of chipped paint and gauges in the wood. These recent benches are paving the way for new campus beautification ventures at Irvington. ASG and other groups on campus such as CCA and the Art department have been working closely with the Irvington administration on a plethora of projects aimed towards improving school spirit and positivity among students.

ASG created bulletin boards in October 2018, categorized into clubs, class, and service bulletins, to encourage students to participate in more school activities. The service bulletin presents service hour opportunities along with the respective organizations’ contact information. Class bulletins publicize upcoming events such as class dances and ASG candidate information, while club bulletins notify the student body about club activities, fundraisers, and competitions. Although inadequate publicity has prevented ASG from using the boards properly to communicate to the majority of the student body, they expect the board’s effectiveness to grow as the school year progresses.

“Our hope is that more students [become] more engaged in school activities and know more about what ASG is doing,” said Ethan Chen (10), Campus Beautification Co-chair of ASG. “We’re trying to improve ASG’s interactions with the student body, and the integration of bulletin boards is an important step in doing that.”

ASG also plans to improve school bathrooms. In addition to faulty toilets, sinks, and towel dispensers, Irvington has a shortage of bathrooms in relation to the California Plumbing Code. The student government hopes to obtain funding from the district to build new bathrooms and repair broken lavatory appliances.

Furthermore, ASG is working with the art classes and CCA to create murals throughout the school. The idea is to continue a beautification project that the student body established in 2018 and is headed by the Students-in-Action team. The students aim to create a “Welcome to Irvington” mural on the blank wall facing the long walkway up to the school near the horseshoe. Although the project is expected to be put up during the 2019 school year in June, it may be pushed back due to a lack of mural ideas or other complications.

“It really depends on admin and being able to get everything approved, but hopefully in the beginning of next school year, it will be up,” said Saisha Singh (12), ASG’s Students-in- Action director.

The Irvington administration is also working on the campus beautification in the pavilion area that focuses on landscaping and repairing the picnic tables and benches.

Through the numerous beautification projects on campus, ASG and the administration strive to create a better high school experience for the students at Irvington.