This year, as part of the School’s service learning curriculum, students in Grades 3 – 5 are participating in a community clean-up program. Each week, a select group of students work together picking up trash in vacant lots around the Tascosa Road Area.

This program has been a true partnership – bringing together students, local businesses, and parents as well as the Keep Texas Beautiful Organization. And, the students have had a great time. “Our students have been enthusiastic and good sports – especially given the speed at which the wind has blown this spring” says service learning coordinator Tara Lowery Hart. “I think they’ve really gotten a lot out of this project. It is very hands on and their impact is visible and immediate. I’m really proud of how hard they’ve worked.”

The community clean-up effort helps reinforce the belief that each one of us holds an obligation to preserve and protect our environment. It also helps demonstrate the importance of showing respect for our surroundings and the negative outcome when such areas are not cared for.

By being out in the neighborhood and by being seen hard at work in the service of the larger community – these students are also setting a great example for others. Finally, and perhaps most importantly – we are teaching them that they can make a difference in the world they live in.

In the words of 3rd Grader Colin Johnson, “It was a mess out there. Bags and plastic everywhere. It felt good to help clean up. It felt good to help the earth.”