Schools

Efforts at Ardena Show the Strength of Volunteers and Community

Allstate helps community at town's oldest school

Over the course of the year, students at  have been working very hard to keep the oldest school in the district looking its best as part of their young leaders program. 

Those efforts got a big help on Monday when representatives of Allstate from all over New Jersey came together as part of the insurance company's 4th Annual Give Back Day. 

Daniel Jovic, the spokesman for Allstate said the project came about thanks to the efforts of Pamela Hill, who not only works for the company but also has deep family roots in the building. "This is a school that's near and dear to her heart," he said. 

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Hill's family can trace its roots at the building back to its opening in 1939 and her two children go there today. She said she was glad to be able to spend a day that she considers special helping a building that means a lot to her. "It's just great to work for a company that supports things like this," she said.

All the Allstate employees were technically on the clock but were being given the day to be part of the project. "We're on the books as working so for us to be able to come away from our desk and be able to volunteer and for them to support us is awesome," Hill said.

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With a team of close to 60 volunteers the group of community members, Allstate employees and staff worked into the afternoon to paint the bathrooms, clean the auditorium and help to make two special rooms for the faculty. In addition, each teacher came into school on Tuesday with a special gift basket thanking them for their work with the students on a daily basis. 

Hill said the teacher's room was one of their main areas of focus on the day. "We did the teacher's lounge just to give them a nice area for a break at lunch," she said. "It used to be the locker room and it felt like the locker room. Now it feels more like a break room."

The staff that volunteered on Monday said the efforts of the people helping would not be lost on the people coming back to school on Tuedsay and beyond. "This is a safe haven for children because often times they come from a home that is anything but safe," said lead teacher Mary Jurlina. "By Allstate coming here to emphasize that, it just makes it better."

Working in a building with as much personality and history as Ardena, Jurlina said it is a great thing to see the old building looking better than it has in a long time. "I think we have a really good environment here. To beautify that it just intensifies that," she said. "With this being the oldest building, with the age there's a certain respect that goes into caring for things that are aged."

Kindergarten teacher Jessica McPolin said the day can also prove to be a valuable learning experience for the students. As part of the program, McPolin said Monday's activities fit right in with the lessons the teachers use. "One of the seven habits is sharpening your saw and giving back and volunteering your time," she said. "We give out so it's nice for the children to see what it feels like to receive volunteer work and to see that so that they can see how it feels."

Jessica Eisenberg who serves as a guidance counselor at Ardena and nearby said it was good that they were able to bring the lessons together for the students and staff. "It's just amazing that Allstate was able to come in and reinforce that and what they did today demonstrated all of the seven habits."

It has been a busy year for the students, and second grade teacher Judy Gonzalez said seeing the school cleaned up has been a good reward for them on a daily basis. "I think our students have been working so hard to beautify our school," she said. "It's nice that it's going to be something special for them. This is a reinforcement of what the community can do and we're just really fortunate."

Jovic said the work going on at Ardena was similar to 34 other projects Allstate employees were doing across the country. With 270 agents in the state, Jovic said working together they can do a lot of good for the communities they serve. "They're hyperlocal and so when you have the might of the entire company volunteering their time and giving back it's pretty powerful," he said. 

Nikki Giancola, who works for the Urbano and Associates office in nearby Marlboro said being a part of the day is important to the volunteers who take part. "The way my agency looked at it was with these kids, the teachers they're working with everyday are what the future is going to be," she said. "If we can come in and make life a little bit easier for the teachers and they can spend a little more time with the children it can really make it better for everybody all around."

For more information on Allstate's community activities check out their website.

Jurlina said seeing the work that everyone did on Monday made knowing they would all be back to work again on Tuesday a little easier after a three day weekend. She also knew that the efforts of the volunteers and the students would not be forgotten anytime soon. "This building means a lot to an awful lot of people."


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