Friends in high places

Rundown school gets makeover due to 8th grader's letter to congress.

That must have been some letter! Although, it is pretty frightening that conditions at that school had gotten so bad in the first place.

The shame factor? You bet but whatever works.

From AP:

Students who had grown resigned to old, "nasty" furnishings at their dilapidated middle school in rural South Carolina were elated Monday to find new furniture and a freshly painted cafeteria, thanks to a student's plea, a president's speech and a businessman's response.

"I was amazed. They changed the whole thing," said J.V. Martin Junior High eighth-grader Jessica Manning, 13. "It let me know somebody cares about us."

Other students could be heard uttering the words "awesome" and "excellent" as they stared at the new furniture, custom made in black with varnished oak tops, that replaced creaky old desks coated in graffiti and chewing gum.

President Obama brought national attention to the school Feb. 24 in his first address to Congress when he read a letter from eighth-grader Ty'Sheoma Bethea asking for help replacing her rundown school.

Bethea had addressed her letter to Congress, so her principal sent it to the White House and South Carolina's congressional delegation.