Winners announced in Paint the Town Orange campaign

By SEAN HANEY

Cove Leader-Press

For the second straight year in October, CCISD held Paint the Town Orange to show their support in standing up to bullying.

Members of the School Board took part in the judging of campus and local business entries.

Throughout the city during the month, businesses and campuses participated in this event and this event, to show they don’t support bullying at all.

For the schools this means more than anyone can think, as kids of all ages are susceptible of bullying. Whether it comes from getting bullied at school, online or at home, it is not ok.

“I love that now we get the students involved,” Martin Walker Elementary School Principal Brienne Turner said about the decorations at Martin Walker.

“So, these pieces look almost random at first sight, but it’s because every grade level kind of took and did their own thing,” Turner said with a pride and excitement on her face.

At the end of the day, it didn’t matter to Turner who won the event, all that mattered to her was to show unity.

“To just show the unity for our kids and you know, always be open, that everybody has a friend, everybody has someone to play with at recess, sit with that lunch. It’s just a very powerful to see kids come together like that.”

At the High School, students spent part of their weekend decorating the entire school to show their support of the event.

“Since we got back to school, we were waiting for it. We’ve been preparing for it, and I’d like to say we did a pretty good job,” senior Emilee Eden who recently committed to Tarleton State University said. “It’s new, newer to us this year, but we went all out.”

Paint Your School Orange seemed to have more of an impact on Eden.

“It means a lot because I have a lot of friends who kind of have had that moment at school where maybe they didn’t feel as they should have been, like respected, and people who’ve been mean to them,” Eden commented. “So, to be able to kind of stand up for them in a way. It feels really good on that part. But also see our school come together again. And to just decorate and support such a good cause.”

Decorating the entire school was not an easy feat. Each hallway had a different theme and message about bullying. So, to tackle this feat Eden came in on her weekend with just a few other students and went to work. In the end she had accomplished decorating and hanging up the decorations that other students had made.

“I love them. I love when we can decorate the school. When we can have when the students can have you know a say in what our school looks like and that means a lot,” Eden said cheerfully about the decorations at the end of the judging.

In the end, the results for the Businesses were: GC Services and Copperas Cove Utility Administration office tied for third place; second place was the H-E-B branch of First National Bank; and in first place was Domino’s Pizza.

For the schools, campuses were: Hettie Halstead Elementary, third place; House Creek Elementary, second; and Mae Stevens Early Learning Academy finished in first place, for the second year in a row.