School Cleanup Is Family Tradition

By YVETTE C. HAMMETT The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 7, 2008

DOVER - Dozens of parents gave up their leisurely Saturday to scrub and polish the school that is so much a part of their children's lives.

It's a longtime tradition brought from their native Mexico. For the staff at Dover Elementary School, the gesture is most appreciated.

"I spent three hours scrubbing chairs and then walked around crying for the rest of the day," said Principal Marie Caracciola. "It was an awesome, beautiful day."

This is the 12th consecutive year parents of the school's students spent a day scrubbing every table and chair in the cafeteria and cleaning the outside walls of every building.

This year, they took on a new project, the Kathleen Carr Reading Garden, named for a retired principal.

The school cleaning day, called the Great Dover Cleanup, follows a tradition started in Mexico in which parents pitch in to clean schools as a gesture of appreciation. Many students' families are from Mexico, and Dover Elementary has a reputation for working hard to see that the children succeed.

"The population of students I work with are 99 percent from Mexico," said Ninfa Guerra-Rodriguez, who teaches English Speakers of Other Languages, or ESOL.

"All those years ago, the parents said, 'We're going to come and clean,' and I asked why," Guerra-Rodriguez said. "They said it was in appreciation for what the school does for their families."

At Dover Elementary, when children don't show up for school, someone there finds out why and, if necessary, offers to pick them up. The school also holds special activities to make migrant families feel welcome and offers after-school programs to show students how to live healthier lives.

The parents also appreciate it, Guerra-Rodriguez said. Each year, the event has grown, she said.

"And this year, it went way beyond cleaning. We built the entire reading garden," she said.

Students showed up with plants and bags of mulch, and much of the day's energy was spent creating the reading garden.

"We laid out 525 bags of mulch," Guerra-Rodriguez said.

Volunteers from St. Andrew's United Methodist Church of Brandon worked alongside parents and grandparents, students and teachers.

"Everyone stayed all the way to the end," Guerra-Rodriguez said.

"They do this out of respect and pride," Caracciola said. "And that's great."

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 657-4532 or yhammett@tampatrib.com.