For one day, students, faculty and staff at Temple's Beasley School of Law traded in their journals, books and comfortable chairs for work gloves, paintbrushes, scrapers — and a powerful reminder of the school's core values.

More than a hundred members of the Temple Law family made the short drive to North Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood for "Serving Neighbors, Connecting Communities," the first-ever school-wide day of service. The Temple team spent the day cleaning, priming, painting, sorting and hauling at St. Boniface, an aging former church complex that is being redeveloped by the Norris Square Civic Association (NSCA), a non-profit that serves a predominantly

"This day of service is, for us, a day that allows us to define who we are," said Temple Law Dean JoAnne A. Epps. "Members of the Law School community are very much aware that we are part of the surrounding Philadelphia community. This day reminds us that service is important to us. And we hope it allows residents to see that quality as well."

Law students, faculty and staff swarmed almost every inch of St. Boniface, a church, convent and school complex that was closed by the Philadelphia Archdiocese in 2006. In the building known as the gym, teams painted walls and demolished a decaying bowling alley. In the basement of the rectory and church, volunteers removed debris and catalogued books and furniture. Some students and staff tackled the compound's outside spaces, pruning trees and cleaning the grounds. Others unloaded more than 20 boxes of sorted food and dry goods that had been donated at Temple in the days leading up to the event.

"It's so easy to get sucked up in law school and your classes...you can forget that there is a community that we'll be serving once we're lawyers," said Kara Forsyth, a first-year law student from Washington State, as she pulled weeds from cracks in the pavement in St. Boniface's courtyard. "Temple Law isn't just creating a bubble around itself. It's using the tools it has to help the neighborhood. That's one of the reasons I chose Temple."

For members of NSCA, an organization founded by a group of neighborhood women in 1982, the Temple Law students and employees provided more than just enthusiastic, pro bono labor — they're role models for neighborhood children.

"There are kids here in our charter school who might be Temple Law students one day," said Kensington resident and NSCA Real Estate Development Director Marcos Morales while catching his breath after lifting floorboards into a dumpster. "We hope that seeing Temple students will help broaden our students' perspectives, and we hope that working with us will broaden the perspectives of Temple students."

Temple Law's first day of service was made possible by a donation from faculty member and Associate Dean for Special Projects Jane B. Baron and her husband, Richard Baron. Temple's Office of Facilities Management also contributed tools and transportation.

"Every once in a while, it's nice to give the students, faculty, and staff a chance to get their hands dirty," said Baron, "and just look at what we can do."