Andre Cunningham was excited.
"I'm like a kid in a candy store," the principal of 74th Street Elementary School and Gifted Magnet said before the school's new library was unveiled Oct. 16.
His Los Angeles campus joined 15 other schools throughout the United States in getting a renovation from the Target Volunteers School Library Makeover program.
The program revitalizes elementary school libraries into "warm, friendly places that engage children in learning, creating a love of reading," according to the website for the Heart of America Foundation, which did the makeover with Target Stores.
About 200 Target volunteers were bused to the school to help with the celebration by putting the finishing touches on the library, handing out books, redoing bulletin boards and reading to students.
"The project is so multifaceted. It's about the library. It's about celebrating literacy. It's about celebrating the school," said Christine Feller, a spokesperson for the foundation. "This school we knew really deserved this project."
The extreme library makeover included installation of new carpets, new paint, new bookshelves, display cases, a theater area and the addition of technology, including Macintosh notebooks and a flat screen television.
It's a big change from the previous library that Cunningham described as being old, with unmatching chairs and a shortage of technology tools.
"It was just not a place kids could walk in and get excited about reading," he said.
Also, the school received 2,000 new books, and each child who attends the school of 600-plus received seven new books to begin their own home library.
The school was notified of the award last May. As part of the process, Target representatives met with the students to get their opinions on what they would imagine their library to look like.
"They came out with their designers and architects and incorporated a lot of the kid's ideas into the design," Cunningham said.
According to the foundation's website, schools are selected for the program based on need, and qualified by interviews with school officials and site visits.
In addition to validating needs, people at the "site visits evaluate the quality and commitment of the school's staff and obtain assurances that books we donate will reach the children and be appropriately used," according to the website.
The 74th Street School was one of three finalists from the Los Angeles Unified School District competing for the makeover.
Angela Halamandaris, who founded Heart of America with Bill Halamandaris, said 74th Street "really stood out" from the other candidates.
"When you walk onto the school you can just feel the spirit of the school," she said. "You can see that the teachers and principal really care about those kids.
"We just fell in love with the school. The leadership under Cunningham, the principal, just really have ... a true passion for those children and they have really worked hard to bring up their test scores. The children are really focused on academics and you really want to reward schools that strive forward, and you really want to reinforce everything that they are doing."
Cunningham said the selection of his school has special significance considering the gains and achievements it has made over the past few years.
When Cunningham became principal nine years ago, 74th Street School was considered underperforming and labeled a Program Improvement School with state Academic Performance Index (API) test scores at 469. Over the years, the test scores have steadily increased. About four years ago, scores went to 600 and two years ago jumped to 690, he said.
"We were so excited because we had come from so far. We were making big jumps when the demand for us or the expected growth was 8 to 10 points a year. And we made much bigger jumps," Cunningham said.
Cunningham encouraged the kids to pursue higher scores, and eventually API test scores reached 698. Then 750.
"We said we wanted to make the 800 club and we went up to 828," Cunningham said. "Our motto with the kids is 'we're 828.' I want them to understand how much we really, really achieved, and what we've done with 80 percent of our kids being African-American students when folks are saying, 'They can't do it.' "
Although being selected for the library makeover was not related to the test scores, Cunningham said it all fits.
Oftentimes, it may be an ice cream or a pizza party that kids are rewarded with for high test scores, and the kids enjoy it, he said.
"This time we get a great reward for what we've done, where we can really feel proud and feel like we've really received some great recognition by getting a completely brand new library," he added.
Chico C. Norwood is a writer for the L.A. Watts Times.
Photos by Ian Foxx
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