Boys Town New York School Gets a Makeover

Students at Boys Town New York’s Passages Academy began this school year in a wash of bright new colors. Thanks to the help of Publicolor, a non-profit organization that engages students in their education by teaching them how to paint, the walls of the school are no longer simply white and blue. Students now sit in brightly-colored classrooms that were painted by their peers.

It took 20 volunteers from Publicolor and eight youth from the Treatment Family Home program 11 days to transform the school walls. “During this time, the school went from boring, to an entire building of marvelous colors and energy,” said Damian Kinsey, Boys Town New York Shelter Supervisor.

The project also created a venue for the youth to learn new skills and express themselves. They not only found out how to perform the painting process correctly, but had the chance to be creative by mixing colors.

The youth eagerly volunteered to work on this project as an act of school spirit and were excited to show off their work when it was finished.“The project provided an experience that the participants will never forget and it is a pleasure watching the youth take pride as they tell other youth that they helped paint the school,” said Kinsey.