Students spruce up the grounds of the Walford retirement home in Sudbury

Students spruce up the grounds of the Waldorf Grade 7amp;8 students from Ecole St-Denis spent the day at the Walford in Sudbury

Grades 7 and 8 students at École St-Denis are paying it forward as part of a class project.

Christine Dénommé, École St-Denis teacher, said students had to complete two or three pay-it-forward projects on their own.

“It's been kind of hard for them because a lot of places are closed or locked down,” Dénommé said.

So she contacted retirement homes in the city to see if there were things students could do at the homes. Originally, they were going to spend time with residents at the Walford retirement home playing cards and painting nails.

However, due to a COVID-19 outbreak, the facility is on lockdown. Instead of cancelling the visit, students carried out tasks such as cleaning, repairing, painting and beautifying the grounds of the residence.

“We’re hopefully going to do this every year,” said Trina Mckerral, Walford retirement home.

"One of my residents opened the window a crack and said, yeah, look at my windows -- they’re beautiful! They need to come every year ... So I hope that happens."