By Nathan Prewett, For the Tribune
LEEDS – The sky over Leeds High School was cloudy and gray, but this was fine by Brandon Meeks and the other volunteers who gave the courtyard on campus a much-needed makeover as they installed the last of the seating after a week on the project.
The clouds certainly didn’t dampen the vibrant colors added to the ground as a part of special education activities, or the trees and gardens that now grow in the space that had previously been mostly blank until the week-long project gave it a new face.
And the cost for the school? Not a dime. This was provided to LHS for free by the Decorative Concrete Council (DCC), which is a specialty council under the American Society of Concrete Contractors (ASCC). Volunteers affiliated with the ASCC traveled from outside Alabama to help with the project.
“So, from across the country all week we’ve had just different people coming in to do this project,” said LHS Principal Rayford Williams. “So right now, the guy that’s hammering, he’s from Seattle. We’ve had people here from Michigan, Ohio, Atlanta, Tennessee.”
The project was initiated by Meeks and James Blair, an ISS teacher at LHS. Meeks is the owner of Birmingham Decorative Concrete and a member of the DCC.
Every year the DCC nominates two community projects, with one to take place in the fall and one in the spring, said Meeks.
“So this was a project that I actually, as a company, came here almost two years ago – my company came and looked at this space and gave them a quote for coming in and doing all this at a charge,” he said. “And it wasn’t in the school’s budget and it seemed like it was a big number. So it just kept sticking in the back of my head that this would be a great space, and we have a monthly meeting for the DCC where each month we say, ‘Okay, does anyone have a new business or any project that would be a good fit?’”
Meeks then thought of LHS and nominated it before an annual conference more than a year ago where it was announced that the school was selected for the spring 2023 community project.
One of the additions to the courtyard was inspired by the special needs teachers who suggested a “sensory path,” an interactive tool that is especially good for students with ADD and ADHD. The path is laid with colorful patterns onto the concrete and functions as a sort of game.
“The sensory path is unique in that this is scored into concrete and stained permanently, where a lot of sensory paths that are available online are marketed for being in the hallway of a school and they’re stickers,” Meeks said. “They stick them down on the floor and on the walls. And they’re able to do them inside. This brings that to the outdoors, so this is a great space here that they have at Leeds High School. It needed to be used more in my opinion, so this gives them a way of getting out here and using it.”
A student lounge area was added to the courtyard, as well as a teaching area that can seat 30 students. More than $10,000 in cash was raised by the ASCC to purchase the benches, some of which are arranged around newly planted trees. But with the labor and materials, the project ended up being an estimated $50,000 project, Meeks said.
“Big projects like this, you tell everyone that you can, ‘Do this and it’s going to look great,’” he said. “But to get out here and make it happen and to have everyone really like it – and I will say this also: we have done many of these projects with the ASCC and the DCC, and this project – Leeds High School and all of this (community) – everyone has been so appreciative and thankful and they come out and tell us, ‘Thank you for what you’re doing.’”
Williams added that the project has accomplished something for the students and staff to be proud of.
“I can see them really taking pride in this space,” he said. “To be out here and take advantage of this space.”