As students returned to school this week, they were greeted with fresh paint, landscaping and much more thanks to incredible community support of Project Shine. More than 1,000 ISD staff members, students and volunteers helped to clean, paint and beautify five ISD schools this past summer. This year,  Benton Elementary, Spring Branch Elementary, Santa Fe Elementary, Sycamore Hills Elementary and Nowlin Middle School got a summer ‘facelift’ thanks to the generosity of the Independence community.

Project Shine was created in 2007 when six Independence schools were annexed from Kansas City Public Schools (KCPS). Volunteers work side-by-side with district employees on a variety of projects- everything from painting and cleaning to landscaping and lawn work.