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Photo by Jon Anderson
Jason Bannister, a volunteer with Church of the Highlands, paints ceiling tiles at Gwin Elementary School in Hoover, Alabama, as part of the church's Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
A volunteer stains a pergola in an oudoor area at Berry Middle School in Hoover, Alabama, as part of the Church of the Highlands' Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Volunteers from Church of hte Highlands stain a pergola and stage at Berry Middle School as part of the church's Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Faith Sands and Ryan Martin, volunteers from Church of the Highlands, stain benches at Berry Middle School in Hoover, Alabama, as part of Church of the Highlands' Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Kaylee Martin, a volunteer with Church of the Highlands, pressure washes the sidewalk in front of Berry School in Hoover, Alabama, as fellow volunteer Antoinette Sands, watches on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Brandy Saia, stains benches outside Berry Middle School in Hoover, Alabama, as part of the Church of the Highlands Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
A worker with Saia Creations helps build new benches at Berry Middle School as part of the Church of the Highlands Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Jesus Ortiz of Saia Creations helps build new benches at Berry Middle School in Hoover, Alabama, as part of the Church of the Highlands Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo courtesy of Derrick Murphy
Saia Creations built these new benches at Berry Middle School as part of the Church of the Highlands' Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Volunteers pressure wash an area at Berry Middle School in Hoover, Alabama, as part of the Church of the Highlands Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Volunteers from Church of the Highlands put out fresh pinestraw at Spain Park High School in Hoover, Alabama, as part of the Church of the Highlands Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Volunteers from Church of the Highlands put out fresh pinestraw at Spain Park High School in Hoover, Alabama, as part of the Church of the Highlands Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Volunteers from Church of the Highlands put out fresh pinestraw at Spain Park High School in Hoover, Alabama, as part of the Church of the Highlands Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Volunteers from Church of the Highlands put out fresh pinestraw at Spain Park High School in Hoover, Alabama, as part of the Church of the Highlands Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Spain Park High School parent Jose Garcie puts out pinestraw as part of the 2025 Hoover City Dad Brigade back-to-school cleanup on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Volunteers put ot fresh pinestraw at Spain Park High School in Hoover, Alabama, as part of the 2025 Hoover City Dad Brigade back-to-school cleanup and Church of the Highlands Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Carrying the bale of pinestraw is Ryan Causey.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Volunteers Shane Eaker and Ryan Causey put out pinestraw at Spain Park High School in Hoover, Alabama, as part of the 2025 Hoover City Dad Brigade back-to-school cleanup on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Volunteers pull weeds in a courtyard at Greystone Elementary School in Hoover, Alabama, as part of the 2025 Hoover City Dad Brigade back-to-school cleanup and Church of the Highlands Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025. From left are Luke Hamby, Jessica Hamby, Maggie Kate Willis and Jennifer Willis.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Greystone Elementary School parents Mark Hamby, left, and Jeremy Willis, put together a picnic table at Greystone Elementary School in Hoover, Alabama, as part of the 2025 Hoover City Dad Brigade back-to-school cleanup and Church of the Highlands Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Matt Howard trims hedges in front of Simmons Middle School in Hoover, Alabama, as part of the 2025 Hoover City Dad Brigade back-to-school cleanup on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Max Reid and Charlie Winterberger clean up the stands at Simmons Middle School's football stadium as part of the 2025 Hoover City Dad Brigade and Church of the Highlands Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Volunteers put out fresh pinestraw in front of Simmons Middle School in Hoover, Alabama, as part of the 2025 Hoover City Dad Brigade and Church of the Highlands Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Brett Reach and Charles Mills put out pinestraw at Gwin Elementary School in Hoover, Alabama, as part of the 2025 Hoover City Dad Brigade back-to-school cleanup on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo courtesy of Derrick Murphy
Volunteers at the 2025 Hoover City Dad Brigade at Shades Mountain Elementary School in Hoover, Alabama, on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo courtesy of Derrick Murphy
Volunteers at the 2025 Hoover City Dad Brigade at Shades Mountain Elementary School in Hoover, Alabama, on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Gwin Elementary School parent Charles Mills puts out pinestraw as part of the 2025 Hoover City Dad Brigade back-to-school cleanup at Gwin Elementary on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Jill Thomas puts out pinestraw in front of Simmons Middle School in Hoover, Alabama, as part of the 2025 Hoover City Dad Brigade and Church of the Highlands Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Matt Howard trims hedges in front of Simmons Middle School in Hoover, Alabama, as part of the 2025 Hoover City Dad Brigade on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Greystone Elementary School parent Rich Trucks blows pinestraw into place as part of the 2025 Hoover City Dad Brigade back-to-school cleanup on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Berry Middle School parents John Schrohenloher and Vince Priola load up trimmed tree limbs behind Berry Middle School as part of the 2025 Hoover City Dad Brigade back-to-school cleanup on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
A volunteer spreads new pinestraw in front of Rocky Ridge Elementary School in Hoover, Alabama, as part of the 2025 Hoover City Dad Brigade back-to-school cleanup and Church of the Highlands Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Volunteers pick up fallen branches and other debris in front of Rocky Ridge Elementary School in Hoover, Alabama as part of Church of the Highlands' Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Volunteers clean up the driveway in front of Rocky Ridge Elementary School in Hoover, Alabama, as part of the Church of the Highlands Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Sharon Wallock, a volunteer with Church of the Highlands, paints a classroom at Rocky Ridge Elementary School in Hoover, Alabama, as part of the church's Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Volunteers reinstall decorated rocks in a courtyard garden at Rocky Ridge Elementary School in Hoover, Alabama, after adding mulch to the garden as part of the Church of the Highlands Serve Day Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Volunteers build a playhouse for pre-kindergarteners at Rocky Ridge Elementary School in Hoover, Alabama, as part of the Church of the Highlands Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Tracye Roberts, left, and Hailey Brown paint a bench at Rocky Ridge Elementary School in Hoover, Alabama, as part of the Church of the Highlands Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Melissa Barry and Ayden Cheslock paint a classroom at Rocky Ridge Elementary School in Hoover, Alabama, as part of the Church of the Highlands Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Greystone Elementary School parents Mark Hamby, Jeremy Willis and Ashley Lovell move a newly assembled picnic table into place as part of the 2025 Hoover City Dad Brigade back-to-school cleanup and Church of the Highlands Serve Day on Saturday, July 12, 2025.
More than 500 volunteers spread out across Hoover’s 16 schools and the Riverchase Career Connection Center Saturday to spruce up the campuses, add new amenities and tackle special projects.
It was a combination of the annual Hoover City Dad Brigade, Church of the Highlands’ Serve Day and contributions from several other churches, including Hunter Street Baptist Church, Shades Mountain Baptist Church and the Christian Life Center.
At most schools, volunteers put out fresh pine straw, pressure washed concrete surfaces, pulled weeds and trimmed bushes and/or trees, but there were numerous special projects as well.
Rocky Ridge Elementary School had people scurrying around the campus like an army of ants, with about 100 volunteers from Church of the Highlands, plus Dad Brigade volunteers.
Hancock Construction led an effort to build a playhouse for the pre-kindergarten program at Rocky Ridge, as well as some benches. Other volunteers dug up stumps in the school’s courtyard and refreshed the landscaping, among a dozen other tasks.
“It is amazing the number of volunteers who have come out to serve our school,” Rocky Ridge Principal Chelsea Bayko said. “It’s really impactful to see how so many people are coming together to help our school and help teachers get ready for the school year.”
During a visit earlier this week, representatives from Church of the Highlands noticed a teacher painting her classroom and volunteered to help her this weekend. The teacher had just moved in from out of state and had no family or friends to help her, so the Serve team from Church of the Highlands stepped up to the task.
This is the third year in a row that Church of the Highlands has volunteered at Rocky Ridge Elementary. Two years ago, a team built a stage and pergola in the courtyard, and last year volunteers from the church stained it.
A lot of the church volunteers had ties to Rocky Ridge Elementary, but some of them did not. There were quite a few children who came to volunteer as well, and Bayko had simple jobs for the young ones, like wiping down baseboards and walls. It was a good opportunity for them to participate in and learn about community service, she said.
Other volunteers made cards and goodie bags for teachers.
Chaz Brown, the kids’ director at Church of the Highlands’ Grandview campus, said the Serve Day is a way for the church to give back to the community and love on the faculty and staff at the school. “Just let them know that the church is here for them,” Brown said. “Just trying to show the love of Jesus.”
Another 75 to 80 volunteers from Church of the Highlands joined Dad Brigade volunteers at Berry Middle School and Spain Park High School. One of the jobs at Berry was to stain an outdoor stage, pergola and benches that were built at the school last year. A team from Saia Creations built another set of wooden benches to match the ones built last year.
Scott McLeod, one of the Church of the Highlands volunteers who helped spread pinestraw at Spain Park, said his small group regularly meets at Spain Park to walk around the outside of the school together. A number of those folks decided to come to Serve Day as a way to give back, he said.
At Gwin Elementary, one of the special jobs this year was to paint ceiling tiles to help the school with a wayfinding project that helps people easily identify hallways by having the ceiling tiles painted different colors in different halls.
The to-do list at Simmons Middle School including organizing closets, cleaning out the concession stand, painting tables and installing new umbrellas in the courtyard and cleaning up graffiti.
At Greystone Elementary, volunteers helped assemble round picnic tables and distribute books to classrooms, among other tasks.
Mark Hamby, who has a fifth grader at Greystone, said he has done other volunteer work before, but this was his first time to volunteer with the Hoover City Dad Brigade. “I just want to serve the school,” he said. “I know how to do handyman stuff, so I figured why not me?”
Chris Laney, the team captain at Greystone Elementary, said he no longer has kids at the school, but he and his wife have had three children go through Greystone Elementary, and he still wants to lend the school a hand.
There frequently have been some women involved in the Dad Brigade, but this year there were more women and children, Laney said. “It’s more of a group effort this year.”
Hoover Councilman Derrick Murphy, the founder of the Hoover City Dad Brigade and lead organizer, said he was glad they were able to have the Dad Brigade again after taking a year off last year and he appreciated the involvement of so many churches. “It was a great team effort,” he said. “It was a great team partnership.”
The Church of the Highlands Serve Day wasn’t just at Hoover schools. The church also sent groups to other area schools that included Inverness Elementary, Oak Mountain Elementary, Oak Mountain Intermediate, Liberty Park Middle School and Pizitz Middle School.
At Inverness Elementary, a team went to clean out a space for special needs students, but while they were there, they noticed a pergola that was about to fall down and decided to tear it down and build a new one, a volunteer coordinator said.
Church of the Highlands also had teams from all 26 of its campuses in Alabama and Georgia doing other types of service projects, including giving free haircuts, delivering groceries to families in crisis, supporting a men’s drug recovery center, completing projects at the Mitchell’s Place and Glenwood facilities for people with autism, serving lunches to single moms, assembling hygiene packets for inmates, serving cancer patients, doing home repairs and yard work for needy people and senior citizens, and doing work at a juvenile detention center and a boys ranch, according to a video on the church’s Facebook page.
