EVERETT — Crude gang-style graffiti is scrawled across wooden fences, street signs, and power poles near Mariner High School.
Students decided to do something about it.
Determined to reclaim their neighborhood, students led a cleanup effort Saturday. About 200 students, parents, property owners and people from the neighborhood were expected to spend the morning removing graffiti from signs and repainting fences.
“We’re not going to take this vandalism,” senior Ray McCartha said.
Graffiti increased over the summer in the area surrounding Mariner, at 200 120th St. SW, said Lt. Doug Jeske of the Snohomish County Regional Drug and Gang Task Force.
While that’s a signal that there is a gang influence in the area, there doesn’t seem to be a gang problem behind what is happening. Typically, an increase in tagging would have correlating trends in crime, but that hasn’t happened, Jeske said.
The idea to clean up the neighborhood came from Mariner students, he said. “I think what they’re doing is great. They came to us with their concerns and a solution,” he said.
Principal Brent Kline said Mariner did have some problems with gangs in the past, but today the school is very different. And the students are making sure it stays focused on classwork and school pride.
“This is a wonderful community within these walls, which, in this way, permeates the greater community,” said Kline, who’s been the school’s principal for 18 years.
The plan to clean up the neighborhood was hatched in the school’s leadership class, which meets at 6:30 a.m. every Friday. They approached Kline, who then reached out for support from local businesses.
Sherwin Williams and The Home Depot provided the painting supplies. McDonald’s donated breakfast, and Grocery Outlet and Albertsons donated the snacks and fixings for a barbecue lunch, cooked by folks from the Garden Court Retirement Community.
Mariner students say they do not see a gang problem at school, and view the graffiti as more of an annoyance than a safety concern.
“Someone just took a can of spray paint and scribbled some letters and numbers,” senior Tim Angelos said.
Students who participated in the cleanup each received a t-shirt with the phrase “Mariner City”. Because the school and its neighborhood are in an unincorporated area between Everett and Mukilteo city limits, the students decided to create their own.
“We care about the people in the neighborhood, because they are part of this community, and we want to show that,” senior Raza Khan said.
Andrew Gobin: 425-339-3000, ext. 5461; agobin@heraldnet.com.
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