Jennifer Zamora, a maintenance worker with the city of Santa Clarita, said her heart was full and warm because she was going back to her old stomping grounds.
Having attended Newhall Elementary School from 2005 through 2012, she was smiling from ear to ear being back there.
“It’s actually really heartwarming to see all the kids that go here. I think I would have appreciated something like this when I did go to school here. So, it’s just really nice to see how we can work together with the elementary school and bring something really cool for the kids,” Zamora said.
The city of Santa Clarita’s Public Works Department hosted its first annual “Public Works Day” event at Newhall Elementary last week.
The event began with a presentation and a special guest appearance from Sammy Clarita, the city’s mascot, demonstrating different scenarios that involve the Public Works Department.
There were three different scenarios – one bicycle ride with just Sammy going over a pothole that needed to be treated, another bicycle ride with a public works worker and Sammy showing why street markers are important, and one with Sammy on a skateboard going over a lifted sidewalk.
Each demonstration showed the children what the Public Works Department does to keep the community safe – fixing roads, marking the streets and repaving the asphalt and sidewalks.
Dan March, streets administrator for the city, started the event because he realized that children never come on field trips to their department, due to funding issues, so he thought that he would bring his team to the school.
“There’s a public works (American Public Works Association), Public Works Week, and that’s this week. And it’s every year. And so, I was like, ‘You know what? Why don’t we team up with Public Works Week and do something for the public and the school and all in the community and all around?’ And so, I just teamed it up with that and that’s where they came from, pretty much,” March said.
March added that, along with the event, his team members were improving the school with repairs that were needed to give it “a facelift,” as he called it.
“We cleared up all the weeds. We did any like grindings (process of removing the top layer of asphalt pavement), any signs that needed to be replaced … after we’re done with this school this week, this school will be just like, it’ll be like a facelift, almost like the whole surrounding area,” March said.
When asked why March felt it was important to him and for the kids, he said it’s getting harder to find people interested in the trades, so he wants to get them interested in public works early.
After the presentation, the children had the opportunity to go into the public works trucks, see the equipment and even watch the workers fix the asphalt with their machines.
The excitement was apparent when the children watched the maintenance workers do their job.
When asked what her favorite part of the event was, Luca Mackey, 7, said with a giggle, “When the big truck, um, flattened out the asphalt.”
Sebastian Ocampo, 7, echoed her statement and added that he wants to do this when he grows up.
Jackeline Tapia, the principal of Newhall Elementary, emphasized that the main message is that working together as a community is important.
“So, we’ve always focused on the academics and then building them (the students) holistically here at school. Now, having the community be part of that is just, for me, a sign of partnership, as I said, as collaboration, when the message is, ‘We’re in this together,’” Tapia said.
During the presentation, Tapia was surprised with two street signs – one said “Tapia Way” and the other was “Newhall Elementary.” It was a huge surprise for her getting the signs and she said it just showed that collaboration and partnership are so important.
First-grade teacher Matthew Cavin said that one of the lessons he teaches in class is community.
“It’s great because one of the things we study in first grade is community and specifically, like the community helpers and how a community works together and what each of our roles are in a community,” Cavin said.
Cavin added that things do not just appear when residents see the streets and the sidewalks and that he will continue teaching his class about these types of jobs in the public works field.
“It just humanizes it (the job) and makes it more tangible for them,” Cavin said.
