After traveling to Detroit to clean up parks and gardens in the city last weekend, a group of students came together again last night to reflect on their service.

About 25 students who were involved in the 12th annual Detroit Partnership Day, a service activity that aims to improve urban neighborhoods in the city, came together in Mason Hall to discuss the outcome of last Saturday’s event. The participants expressed excitement that the their good deeds attracted the attention of producers from the Discovery Channel, which will include footage from the day in a three-part documentary.

Participants reflected on the day’s activities, which included cleaning schools and painting murals in the city, and spoke candidly about their experience in the city. Some said they had never been to Detroit before the DP Day.

More than 1,000 students participated in the service day. Most students worked in teams in either the Southwest or Brightmoor neighborhoods of the city. After doing various service activities throughout the city, the day concluded with a rally at Detroit’s Stoepel Park on the Northwest side.

The Detroit Partnership is one of three organizations that will be featured in the Discovery Channel documentary. Business senior Andrew Bahena, executive director of the Detroit Partnership, said in an interview last night that the documentary will premiere on the Discovery Channel in August and will focus on social action.

“(The Discovery Channel) is trying to bring awareness to things that have great potential to bring about positive change,” Bahena said.

Detroit’s distinct economic situation will add to the value of the documentary, he added.

“Detroit is easily the most unique city in the country because it took the biggest fall, and coming out of it, people are acting in innovative ways,” Bahena said.

LSA junior Kaitlin Liroff, the education director for the Detroit Partnership, emphasized the value of having University students visit the city, especially since Ann Arbor and Detroit are so close in proximity. She discussed how, compared to her two previous years participating in the DP Day, this year there was a significant improvement in participants’ composure and patience.

“I thought it went really smoothly,” Liroff said during the discussion. “Even if things didn't go as planned, people were calm, cool and collected.”

Bahena discussed how one of the most exciting parts of this year’s event was a visit from Lloyd Carr, former head coach of the Michigan football team. Participants bombarded Carr with photo requests, though he didn’t seem to mind, Bahena said.