Baker County teachers give school a facelift

8th-grade teachers paint classrooms

MACCLENNY, Fla. – More than 5,000 students in Baker County head back to school on Wednesday.  About a dozen 8th-grade teachers at Baker County Middle School spent the last couple weeks giving their school a facelift by painting hallways and classrooms.

"We decided as a hallway that we wanted to make our classrooms look more inviting to our students. We spend a lot of time in our classrooms so we felt that it was important to make it something that reflect our personality and something that we liked so we all picked out our own color schemes," said Jennifer Richardson, an 8th-grade science teacher at Baker County Middle.

About a dozen teachers bought the supplies to do the work, such as sanders, rollers and paintbrushes.  They admit coming up with something new and creative is a challenge because middle school students can be tough to motivate. 

One woman has been teaching for 33 years and decided to make it a family affair.  Her husband, daughter, son and his friend spent a week turning her room patriotic.

"It was a challenge but it's been a nice way to start the year and gives me a lot of motivation and energy to start the year off," said Gayle Comes, an 8th grade history teacher.

Superintendent Sherrie Raulerson said she knows what kind of resources go into a project like this.  She said these teachers took it upon themselves to find a new way of engaging their students.

"I'm extremely proud of these teachers and this district again to give up their time their money their efforts from their whole family to be a part of that. When I walked in my heart just soared to see the excitement of the children," said Raulerson.