Volunteers pay tribute to MLK with service

More than 60 volunteers turned out this morning to help turn the Partnership Academy Alternative School's back yard into an "outside classroom."

The event from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today is to commemorate the idea that Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a day of service -- "a day 'on,' not a day 'off.' "

The school's back yard in Hillsborough will become a 50-seat amphitheater, nature trail and cafeteria. The current building, at 1006 E. Storey Lane, doesn't have a cafeteria or rooms large enough to do team-building activities. Right now, students have to eat in the multi-purpose room.

The amphitheater and picnic tables will help meet those needs, while also serving as a gathering space for other schools in the district.

Partnership Academy is a school for students who "have not been successful in a traditional environment due to social, emotional and behavioral difficulties," according to the school's Web site. Often, students who enroll are those who would have been suspended, are at risk of dropping out or are returning to school from a rehabilitation center, hospital or juvenile detention facility.

Other MLK Day projects:

With temperature in the 20s, the volunteers picking up trash in Biltmore Hills Park today had to wear mittens over their rubber gloves.

The air was so cold that the piles of mulch froze solid before anybody could spread them over the icy ground.

Still, two dozen children and their parents roamed over the Southeast Raleigh park, collecting bags full of McDonalds cups and bottle caps as a small tribute to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

"We wanted to help them learn it's not just about what they get," said Carolyn Garrett-Piggott, who brought three children to the park. "And once they saw all the other kids, they were happy to be here."