PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Juneteenth service project Monday brought together Philly high school kids with Villanova alumni to spruce up Vaux Big Picture High School in Sharswood.
About 40 Vaux Big Picture students joined 50 members of the Villanova Black Alumni Association, painting hallway murals and sprucing up the school gardens.
John Celestand, the point guard for ‘Nova’s basketball team in the ‘90s, helped to lead the Juneteenth effort. “We just try to bring Villanova Black alumni together, the athletes. And we wanted to really just do some great things for schools in the Philadelphia area,” Celestand told KYW Newsradio.
”We just try to bring those alumni around together to connect with the students around something meaningful. And coming to do something at an event like this is a good way to be able to do that and give back to the community.”
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Jamilah Jones of ‘Nova’s class of 2019 was helping to catalog books in Vaux’s reading room.
“I’m a school teacher. I teach middle school, and I know how important it is to have extra hands and extra help to make sure that classrooms and school buildings can run smoothly. So when I saw the opportunity, it just felt right,” she said.
“What better way to celebrate than to help unite the communities that we have, and do good in the communities that we have? When you think about your freedom, you’ve got to think about how you want to spend it.”
“Hopefully, my presence here today can be an example to young students,” said ‘Nova grad student Corie Alicea. “Just to let them know that in their future, somewhere down the line they can still be active members of their community to show up and gather together with younger students to encourage them.”
Vaux sophomore Qwinton Pierce didn’t mind giving up one of his first days of summer vacation to participate. “The community is helping people out. So I’m like, all right, I might as well help somebody out,” he said.
Principal Shavonne McMillan reminded students that by performing community service, they’ll get as much as they give. “I want them to know that this is their civic duty. At the same time, it’s something that’s rewarding,” McMillan told KYW Newsradio. “It’s about pouring into the community and building capital for the community. The school community, the Sharswood community, the Philadelphia community.”
Students also collected detergent and laundry supplies, so that needy Vaux athletes would have access to clean uniforms and practice gear.
This is the second year that UNITAS, the diversity, equity and inclusion initiative of Villanova Athletics, has coordinated a Juneteenth service project at a Philadelphia high school. Last year’s project was at Olney High.