by Sarah Heath
photo by Ryanne Mollo
The week of May 14th is the last week of school for the seniors of 2008, and they have the option to use this week to lead the school in something big: the Great American Clean-up.
A simple walk through the lovely neighborhoods around the school to pick up trash would be a strong gesture to those who live on all four sides of TJ. Plus, everyone can get out of class.
The great American cleanup was created through the Keep America Beautiful campaign (KAB) which has been working to pick up and prevent litter across America. Through volunteer action, recycling, partnerships and initiatives, Keeping America Beautiful is a cool idea and a great success.
TJ Special Education Teacher Bill Holden didn’t know about the Keeping America Beautiful campaign when he was at South High School and started participating in the Great American Cleanup. “We work with the Denver solid waste system and also Denver Recycles. It’s kind of a fun thing, especially for individual classes,” said Holden, who came to help out at TJ after he retired from teaching. He’s excited about TJ’s first year participating.
The idea is for each class during the week of the 14th to go out for one class period to clean up trash around the neighborhood. The school will provide trash bags and gloves. Each class should choose a period that works for them. The Great American Cleanup goes this entire week and it is hard not to jump on board for two reasons.
First, it is true that schools often lie embedded in neighborhoods. Another known truth is that not everyone throws his or her trash away properly. A lot of Spartan trash has accumulated in the park, on the fields and out on the streets of the surrounding area. It’s super easy to throw everything away, or just recycle at school. Everyone has been up in the air about whether or not human waste has effected the environment, but it is no contest that every TJ student deserves a clean and pretty campus. If a lot of people clean up a few bad apples’ trash, then our school and the scenery will be a happier place.
The second best reason to rally support among the teachers is that the students get a day off to go outside and walk around with their classmates. As the weather gets nicer kids start to ask, “Aw, can’t we have class outside?” Now students have a legitimate plea to share: “It’s super nice out, can we make today the day this class participates in the Great American Cleanup?”
It is anybody’s guess if enough troops can be rallied in time to tackle the litter buildup. But Holden feels it is certainly a worthwhile effort to make. If all the senior classes can lead the charge into the surrounding couple of blocks, a lot of trash can be picked up and TJ can build some bonds with the people whom TJ students share the neighborhood with. The cleanup will be a wonderful gift from all students. “It is a lot of fun to get outdoors. And you can feel good about it. The nice thing is that the community sees it and they think, ‘Boy these kids are pretty good people.’ And they haven’t liked a few kids all years. But I like to think that we have a good school at TJ and it’s a good thing for us to do to finish the year,” said Holden.
Holden’s optimism on the subject is refreshing. If this week is a success then next year there could be two weeks. Maybe the year after that there could be three weeks total or one week every quarter. This allows the maximum cleanup and the maximum days where class really does get held outside, and for a good cause.
