HHS students clean up for a cause

by LaDerika Sewell
Special to the Houlton Pioneer Times
    On a blustery, bitter October morning, eighth-grade English classes began cleaning up the neighborhood around Houlton Junior/Senior High School. Plastic gloves and garbage bags in hand, students collected around 25 full bags of trash from empty lots, the nature trail, woods, school grounds, the park and along several roads. Many were surprised about the amount of items they found and the type of “treasures” thrown everywhere. From a demolition derby car hood to a clothes dryer, students picked up everything on which their eyes landed. They gathered shoes, tarps, a rake, lawn chairs, a cake pan, cans, bottles and even coolers. What began as groans of complaint about having to suffer the temperature outdoors quickly evolved into gripes of disgust over what some people carelessly discard.
Contributed photo
HELPING OUT — Students in LaDerika Sewell’s eighth-grade English class recently helped clean up the neighborhood surrounding the high school. Taking part are, front, Garrett Ring; and back from left, Abby Fore, Carey Suitter, Laura McEwen, Matt Moran, Lexi Emerson, Aaron Sewell, Connor Grant, Natalie Hill, Zack Guiod and Tiffany Sunderlin.
    The goal of the walk was not only to improve the neighborhood before snowfall, but also to get students thinking about writing persuasively. They were required to write a persuasive letter to the editor for possible submission to the Houlton Pioneer Times. This activity ultimately fulfilled a written component for the Common Core, which the state of Maine adopted earlier this fall.
    One student remarked, “I’m sorry! Is this a moral lesson? I get the point! I’ll never throw stuff out the window again!” as he continued placing litter into his group’s garbage bag. Many bags split open from the weight of the garbage and every student contributed 100 percent to the clean-up effort.
    Cans and bottles were redeemed that afternoon at Graham’s Redemption Center, and the funds were donated to the Change for Change program at the school. The proceeds were given to Jeremiah Crockett, who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer earlier this summer.