Sales Team Spruces Up San Francisco Schools

— Guest blog by Steve Pipe

Seagate’s global sales and marketing team gave two low-income schools in San Francisco a makeover.

Employees spent an afternoon earlier this month painting classroom walls and school corridors, restoring outdoor murals, tending to weed-choked gardens, hauling away debris and more at Mission High School and Hillcrest Elementary School.

The community project has become a tradition during the annual Sales Conference. Past projects have included volunteer work at a shelter for abused women, restoring a Little League baseball field and sprucing up other local schools.

Seagate’s team of about 300 volunteers was split up among the two San Francisco schools. In addition to the sweat and hard work, Seagate’s team contributed $24,000, which will be divided among both schools.

“Giving back to our communities is very important,” said Kurt Richarz, EVP, global sales and sales operations. “These volunteer projects drive better teamwork and help reinforce what the Seagate culture is all about.”

Teachers at both schools were grateful for the extra help—especially with classes set to begin later this month.

“It means a lot,” said Rachel Vigil, who teaches urban agriculture at Mission High. “We have a lot of spaces that are often neglected, and we don’t have the budget to maintain them as often as we’d like. It’s important for our students to have a vibrant, beautiful setting when they return to school, and Seagate’s volunteers are helping us do that.”

At nearby Hillcrest Elementary, teachers such as Anne Hughes find themselves spending a chunk of their summer break cleaning up the school’s garden because of budget constraints. Seagate’s volunteers gave Hughes and her colleagues a much-needed breather, allowing them to focus more on their upcoming curriculums and less on faulty drip-irrigation systems.

“Within an hour, I think we’ve gotten more done in our garden than I could have done in a month,” said Hughes, a fourth-grade teacher. “It’s wonderful to have this flood of labor come in and take so much of this work off my plate. It tells the kids that we value them and that we want them to have a beautiful school.”