The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Monday, March 31, 2014 - 5A De troit Partnership Day draws 1,400 DP DAY From Page IA the city and want to change it and want to make itcbetter." At Neighbors Building Bright- moor, a local organization dedicated to neighborhood bet- terment, students used rakes and shovels to clean up streets and sidewalks. They also painted signs with inspirational messag- es. The signs will be placed along the Lyndon Greenway in North- west Detroit to motivate children as they pass by on their way to school. Detroit resident Dawn Wilson Clark painted the signs along with students. She said DP Day gives University students the opportu- nity to see Detroit firsthand. "It gives them an opportunity to see positive things in the neigh- borhood as opposed to what they see on the news," Clark said. Public Policy junior Patrick Sier, DP major events director, said the event ending the day was called a rally, but this year the organization emphasized reflec- tion. Site leaders were encouraged to reflect on the day and ask par- ticipants questions. "We're trying to make this more of a starting point for a lot of people, tryingto get them more interested in social justice issues," Salomonsson said. "You shouldn't just do this once a year.You should think about why it is important to do service and continue that." Business sophomore Trevor Flegenheimer, who also partici- pated in DP Day last year, said this year the organization is focusing more on cleaning up the city and interacting with the Detroit com- munity. "I feel like we're actually in the center of the city, making a bigger difference," Flegenheimer said. Business sophomore Sam Woodbury also participated in DP Day last year. He said this year he felt like he was able to better con- nect with the Detroit residents. "I talked to someone who lives here and she was thanking us for coming out today, helping out her street and helping out her com- munity," Woodbury said. "Doing something like that just makes me want to come back again. It affirms why we're here--to help people." Another group of students spent the day working at The Heidelberg Project, an outdoor art community that transforms abandoned houses and discarded objects into art structures. DP Day participants cleared out debris and searched for pliable wood from Heidelberg houses that were recently burned down by arsonists. As soot-covered students dug through the ashes of what once were homes, they found ash-ridden stuffed animals and broken records. At the end of the day, students gathered at the James Scott Memo- rial Fountain on Belle Isle to reflect on the day. Lloyd Carr, former Uni- versity football coach - who has attended DP Day for the past five years - spoke to participants. PHOTOS BY VICKI LUI/Daily (1) Jessica Kezlarian, landscape and site designer for the Heidelberg project, leads the clean up of one of the burnt down houses that was part of the outdoor art project Saturday. (2) Khafre Sims Bey, a member of the InsideOut Literary Arts Project in Detroit, recites a couple of his poems at the closing ceremony Saturday. (3) Dawn Wilson Clark paints inspirational signs on herfront lawn for the Brightmoor community through the Detroit Leadership Academy and the Detroit Partnership. (4) LSA junior Craig Friend works with Trista Dymond, the site development manager at the Heidelberg project, to clean up the remains of a burnt down house that was part of the outdoor art project, Saturday. (5) Darlene Johnson paints inspirational signs for the Brightmoor community Saturday.