Classroom Makeover: The Before

Maybe it is because of all the HGTV Design Star I have been watching...
Maybe it is because of the Martha Stewart Living magazines that arrived in my mailbox...
Maybe it is because school is about to be back in session...
Maybe it is because I was sick of the storeroom that my portable at school became...
Maybe it is because of my need to make all things pretty...
Whatever it was, I signed myself up for a challenge.

$80 to make over my portable.

Portable 17, also known as the Family Resource Center is my little home away from home during the months of August through June. It is an office for Mr. Seay and me. It is a classroom for parent trainings. It is a lab for interventions and homework clubs. It is a conference room. Last year it looked like a dump.

With only one row of windows, shades that do not work, institutional beige walls, and mismatched everything, I knew that I did not want to be there much less parents that came to the school. Nothing about it was comfortable. Over time, I added little things to "make it work" as Tim Gunn says. I made bulletin boards out of paper and blank walls. I found a free couch. A desk was given to me. Still at the end of the year, I hated the long days there (especially the ones that consisted of regular school hours, followed by homework club, followed by a parent training... that is a 12 hour work day!)

This summer I was given $80. (Don't worry teachers, it was not Title I fund or school money!) $80 that will transform my place of work. $80 that can create a space in which parents and visitors can be comfortable. $80 that will encourage learning. Stay tuned to see what this becomes...

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