Dave Fales, left, and Miguel Robles build a ramada at Sunnyside High School as part of Make a Difference Day. An estimated 2,000 volunteers across the Sunnyside School District volunteered their time and efforts on Saturday to help beautify, build and repair school facilities. Corporate donors included Lowe's Home Improvement, which gave the district $25,000, and Raytheon, which volunteered $5,000 and the help of 100 volunteers.

photos by mamta popat / Arizona Daily Star

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Mary Jones got up early Saturday morning to go to school — not necessarily the most desirable place for a 9-year-old to be on the weekend.

Still, the third-grader, wearing spots of green and red paint by about 9:30 a.m., was jazzed.

Mary and her mother, Lori, were among an estimated 2,000 volunteers in the Sunnyside Unified School District who spent their Saturday brightening up its campuses.

It was Make a Difference Day across Tucson and the nation. And at Mary's school, Los Niños Elementary, 5445 S. Alvernon Way, volunteers including students and their parents were painting a pedestrian bridge over Alvernon just outside the school.

"I love to paint," Mary said. "I love to do anything that involves painting or drawing."

For decades the bridge sat with exposed concrete, said Principal Sally Lewis, making it a tempting canvas for graffiti taggers.

"Over the years it's been so bad the neighborhood association has asked us to do something about it," she said. "We just never got it going until today."

"Not only did we want to do something as a school and a community, but it's a nice gateway for people who are arriving into Tucson," she said of the area, not far from Tucson International Airport. "And I just really think this area needs beatification."

Thanks in large part to Los Niños art teacher Heidi Hoscheidt, it happened. Hoscheidt convinced the city of Tucson to paint the bridge blue. Then on Saturday, families and community members gathered to paint American Indian petroglyphs on the bridge.

"I'm amazed," Hoscheidt said of the result. "The bridge was an eyesore. Now, I think it will drive the gangs and the graffiti away. I'm hoping it will be maintained and appreciated."

Over at Sunnyside High, counselor Joely Villalpando was overseeing a small facelift to the school at 1725 E. Bilby Road.

There, hundreds painted hallways, trimmed weeds and built a new ramada for students.

The district was aided by corporate donations. Lowe's Home Improvement donated $25,000, more than $1,000 per school. Raytheon donated $5,000 and 100 volunteers. And Wal-Mart and Texas Instrument each donated $1,000.

Raytheon Web developer Brandon Riggs started working at Sunnyside High at 7:30 a.m.

"It helps the community," Riggs said. "Actually my dad went to Sunnyside so that's why I really wanted to help here."

By the end of the morning, Lori Jones felt she and her daughter had definitely made a difference, and spent some valuable time with the school and neighborhood community.

"It shows respect for everyone in the neighborhood," she said. "We're proud of where we live and where our kids go to school."