If the faculty at Historic Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Elementary School wants to teach their students a lesson about perseverance when they return to classes Monday, they would do well to explain the story behind the freshly-painted hallways.

Another group of “students” – 30 adult men and one woman – did that work during three hot and humid weeks this summer as part of a construction training program in the high-unemployment neighborhood of Upton.

The original plan, as The Brew reported last week, was to paint just two hallways. But the trainees completed three of them yesterday – a painting job whose value was estimated by organizers to be about $100,000. The trainees themselves were not paid.

Why did the group (a project of Baltimore Community Churches United and Laborers’ International Union of North America) go the extra mile, and paint an additional hallway at no cost to Baltimore City Public Schools?

“The children will like the hallways,” said Tyrice Hawkins, as he walked past Curtis Brunson, Fred Terry, Sean Davis and Larry Davis, who were putting the final touches on one of the walls. They’re now a crisp eggshell cream and not a fading purplish-pink.

The workers-in-training say they’re glad to have cheered up the learning environment for students. A sign posted in the stairwell of the school reads, “Brightens Up Our School.”

“That’s what we have done,” said trainee Harry Wilson, pointing to the sign.

Trained, but Can They Find Work?

Amid the fresh paint aroma, the men also smelled opportunity.

“We were hoping to possibly paint the classrooms of the school,” Harry Wilson, one of the trainees, said yesterday as they finished the project.

The group would like to get a paying gig to paint more of the school. The hallways are a way for them to showcase their work skills and gain steady employment in a tough economy.

Shannon Jones, a Laborers’ Union representative, noted that the students are highly trained and knowledgeable in the construction field.

“They are ready,” she said. But are employers open to them?

Samuel Coleridge’s principal, Harold Barber, said he was pleased and impressed with the painting job, but not sure whether the school could offer the crew more work. “We would have to go through the procurement process and see,” Barber said.

Richie Armstrong, organizer for Baltimore Community Churches United, remains hopeful that the halls will advertise the students’ skills and bring them paying work.

“Maybe some higher-ups on North Avenue [the city school headquarters] will give them some construction or painting opportunities,” Armstrong said, glancing at the gleaming walls.