The Indian Land Rotary Club spent two recent weekends preparing the Indian Land schools for opening day.

At Indian Land High School, the club, along with help from M. Conn Construction of Chester, poured 300 feet of sidewalk from the student parking lot to the front office. Blue Dot Readi-Mix donated more than $3,000 worth of materials.

The sidewalk was needed to keep students from tracking mud onto the school's other sidewalks and into the school, said Rotary member Kevin Sexton.

Paul Cochrane, president of Blue Dot, said he was glad to offer his help.

"It's just important. We've always wanted to be presented well in the community and do our part to contribute," Cochrane said. "Community involvement is what our company is about and we thought that would be a great way to help the community and a great way to help a good cause."

At Indian Land Middle School, the Rotary Club extended a sidewalk behind the middle school gymnasium, put new planters at the front office and spread mulch around the school's flowers.

Principal David McDonald was appreciative of their efforts.

"It is such a tremendous addition to our school," McDonald said. "We are so very fortunate to have this club in our area. They are always willing to jump in and help the schools however they can."

At the elementary school, Sexton and 15 other members replaced flowers in the existing planters, trimmed bushes in the reading garden and the butterfly garden and re-mulched both kindergarten playgrounds.

The mulch for the projects was donated by Pressley's Recycling, an Indian Land-based company.

Rotary is a service-based organization. They choose to volunteer their time and resources at the schools because education is important to club members, Sexton said.

The group also donates books to each school's library, one book per week throughout the year.

Sprucing up the exterior also helps students feel good about their school, Sexton said, which in turn affects their attitude about education.

"It has to increase the morale, to feel good about the environment they are in. That's what we are hoping," Sexton said. "When you have a bad environment, you take that attitude. When you see nice fresh stuff, you tend to take that outlook."