The Room Renovators’ creativity brightens NP
At eight a.m. sharp on a Saturday, the Room Renovators enter a classroom ready to paint it a new, vibrant color to uplift the previously dull ambience. The smell of paint fills the room as the color, chosen by the teacher, begins to cover the walls. The individuality of the renovation reflects the teachers, permanently leaving their mark on the room.
So far, the Room Renovators have decorated Marc Lion, Lucia Lemieux, Brandon Janes, and Christine Hodson’s English classrooms. The club has grown to include 18 members since its start in Oct. 2016. Even though the club is relatively young, it has already started to make its impact on the school.
Allison Gennette, junior, started the Decorators Club for her Gold Award in Girl Scouts. Gennette believed the club was a great way to bring different groups on campus together. “I thought it was really original and unique so everybody just kind of came together,” Gennette explained.
Hodson admired how driven Gennette was in starting the club. Hodson was drawn to the idea of having her room painted after she received an email from Gennette. She described Gennette’s involvement in every step of the painting process, from fundraising to devising a plan for the painters. “Students were just completely self sufficient. They brought all the materials with them; I brought donuts and juice and I just got out of the way,” Hodson said.
After choosing the paint color and watching the renovators at work, Hodson said, “It was so exciting to see the transformation of the walls from this ugly, institutional off-white to this sage green.” She believes that the room is “a gift that just keeps giving” because “ it changes the ambience and all the students love it.”
Sophia Dagan, junior, joined the club because she is a self-described “interior design protégée.” “I love designing and decorating rooms and giving back so I found (Room Renovators) to be a perfect opportunity,” she said. By working on the rooms and collaborating with the teachers, Dagan believes “our club has given teachers an outlet for them to see how much we really appreciate them.
The feedback from the renovations has been nothing but positive. “It was so exciting the first two days after it had been painted (because) students would walk in the room and stop at the door and say, ‘Woah,’ because they’re taking in what it looks like,” Hodson said.
“The teachers love it and it really has boosted their attitude,” Gennette said of the reactions she has received.
Hodson reaffirmed Gennette’s beliefs, “it was just really bonding and for me it was really uplifting in terms of morale,” she concludes.
Gennette finishes, “It’s not just a boring white classroom it’s actually individualizing each classroom and making it their own.”
