By Amy Woods:

Toiling -- and broiling -- students from The Benjamin School's Summer Institute painted a colorful and cartoon-like community mural at The Center for Family Services' Pat Reeves Village. The mural brightens up the children's playground at the village, a homeless shelter for Palm Beach County families.

"This beautification project at the shelter gives the young students a great sense of service in the community," said Cara MacVane, a spokeswoman for the center. "They are excited to seek out other projects where they can make such a notable contribution to those who have so much less than they have."

Elizane Charles, Avery Woods, David Hadden and Frederick Fayerweather

Students in the Summer Institute primarily come from poor homes and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. A staff of teachers and high-school students offers the youths competitive curriculum and academic enrichment to help them learn new skills. The program spans four weeks.

Director of Multicultural Affairs Brad Pazant leads the Summer Institute.

"I was trying to find way for these students to do community-service work," Pazant said. "I thought of the mural.

They (The Center for Family Services' Pat Reeves Village) had this huge wall in the back, and it was just bare."

Students adorned it in two phases: Phase one featured the positive and inspirational Adinkra symbols of West Africa, and phase two included the popular cartoon characters SpongeBob SquarePants and Nemo.

"It's awesome," Pazant said. "It's incredible."