By NANCY WILSTACH / Community Columnist

Montevallo High School students performed community service and helped the city look sharp for its 200th birthday.

As part of a Shelby County Board of Education program called “Give Me Five,” students spent a recent Saturday picking up, scrubbing up and sprucing up the home of the Bulldogs.

Senior Matthew Allen explained why he tackled the gritty job of cleaning the football stadium and the concession stand. He cited a Bible verse as part of his motivation: I Corinthians 16:14 “ … Do everything in love … ”

“I am going to stay here. I am going to (University of) Montevallo. This is my home,” said Allen, who also volunteers at the teen center and helps with Farm Day. He agreed with the suggestion that he and his hard-working classmates performed sort of a reverse senior prank by leaving the school brighter and cleaner than they found it.

“I want to leave my mark on the school … in a good way,” agreed sophomore Trishton Johnson, whose work included sanding and refinishing picnic tables between the main school and the Alice Boyd Building. “We cleared trash from behind the bushes and pressure-washed the walks,” he said.

Diego Martinez, who is headed to Troy University for football and a nursing degree, called his mother “my number one motivator.” He led a group of seniors and juniors who cleaned up the Dawg House, the field house at the football/soccer stadium. Martinez pronounced the soccer teams “really messy. But we cleaned it up really well.”

Students also cleared out trash around the stadium and school, planted flowers and cleaned the ticket booth. The messiest job, according to the service day sponsor, Lee Pastor, was the concession stand.

“It took five bottles of Spic ’n’ Span,” she said.

Pastor, in her fifth year at the school, teaches AP government, economics and psychology.  The school district policy requires each student to complete five hours of community service every school year.

“Many of these students do a lot more than five hours,” she said. “I am very proud of them.”

Students who took part in the Service Day were: Matthew Allen, Rankin Allen, Jacob Anderson, Avery Anfield, Bennett Bell, Trudi Benson, Naomi Blake,  Christopher Boggs, Wyn Brantley, Dylan Brooks, Hunter Brown, Xavier Bryant, Jackson Burns, Boston Bush, Grace Carr, Heriberto Casildo, Cameron Conwell, Grant Cordes, Jack Diaz, Ahmad Edwards, Tania Escalante, Wendy Escalante,  Rudy Estrada, Bobby Fancher, Jackqueline Galvan, Deon Gilliland, Victor Guardado, Isa Harris, Jamari Harris, Shae Harris, Danilo Hernandez, Landon Honeycutt, Marvin Jackson, Reshone Jackson, Lithzi Jimenez, Hunter Johnson.

Also participating were Trishton Johnson, Jacoby Jones, Kattie Jones, MaCaya Jones, Yordan Landaverde, Jakolby Maddox, Tyelyn Maddox, Axel Magallanes, Diego Martinez, Hannah Mayhan, Zakia McMillan, Rachel Moran, Nathan Moreland, Nakaya Moore, Calyn Nathews, Declan Nichols, Denise Ocampo, Harry Perez, Cody Port, Asia Prentice, Chase Ramsey, Chaniya Reed, Ellen Reid, Maleya Seay, Carl Sellers, Taylor Sellers.

Also, Demetrius Smith, Conner Spears, Andrew Tibbetts, Bryson Turner, Chris Villa Perez, Winnie Wong and Kelsey Yancey.