With all the major ways that Robinson has changed because of COVID-19—eLearning, masks, posters—it’s easy to overlook the more minor adjustments. Robinson’s Student Government Association recently started a school beautification project, a way to better the school while remaining social distanced and in open-air.

School beautification comes across in myriad ways: pulling out weeds, cleaning up trash, improving the environment. For SGA, the goal—as always—is to serve the school and student body in whatever way possible.

“We were drawn to helping the environment because it’s something that we see and when you’re in a pretty surrounding you feel better about being there,” Sadé Wallace (’21), the SGA Student Body President, said. “Who doesn’t like to see more trees?”

The school beautification events happen on Service Saturdays—another new concept for SGA. On these Service Saturdays, SGA members join together to work to improve the school. The events are not limited to members of SGA, but are open to all Robinson students and their parents.

“Sadé is very passionate about making the campus a friendly, cleaner environment,” Thomas DuSold, the SGA sponsor, said.

The first Service Saturday was on Sept. 23, where volunteers spent the morning cleaning up the football stadium. Groups cleaned out the trash under the football bleachers, pulled weeds under the bleachers and near the entrance to the stadium. At the second event on Oct. 2, volunteers focused on the courtyard, where they planted a tree, vines and flowers.

“Swaraa Dhore really took the lead on that, getting plants donated from Outdoor Accents on Westshore to beautify and color up our courtyard,” Dusold said.

The upcoming SGA-hosted Service Saturday will be in Nov., and the SGA is currently working on approval for murals around school. In the meantime, SGA partnered with the PTSA for a clean-up at Bobby Hicks on Oct. 25.

“At the end of the day, whatever we do is done with the intention of bettering the school’s community,” Wallace said.