2008 Woodie Awards
Eastfield students round up rubbish
Amadeo Lopez
Issue date: 10/1/08 Section: The News
Thirty-five Eastfield students in biology professor Jose Flores' classes worked for three hours to keep Mesquite beautiful on Sept. 27.
Twice a year Keep Mesquite Beautiful, Inc. works with community volunteers to clean up trash in city parks, a job they've taken on since 1994.
"I'm a very environmental person and I would like students to get some environmental awareness, but also to have fun doing it," Flores said. "During the summer I had a lot of participants, but last Saturday we had some good participation too."
Flores offered extra credit to his students and said he expected around 50 to sign up.
Volunteers showed up at City Lake Park at 9 a.m. before being dispersed to different parks in Mesquite.
KMB Executive director Jami Russell said around 400 people participated. Normally Russell said they average 300 volunteers.
They collected trash from 14 different areas in Mesquite.
"This year we also had students from national honor societies, from different Mesquite high schools, and also the Girl Scouts and several business cooperated, as well as individuals who heard about this in the news and decided to go green for the community," Russell said.
Flores said each of his students were given one 30-gallon bag and many of them were able to fill their bags, despite the park initially looking clean.
"It was weird because we weren't expecting a lot of trash because the park looked clean," Education major Jaqueline Palma said. "But after we walked into hidden areas we found trash, clothes, and other wastes under a bridge."
Palma said this is the third event of this nature she has attended because she is interested in helping the community rather than just receive extra points for her class.
"It was motivating because a lot of kids got involved and they were energetic to finish the work," she said. "I started to do this because there will be always somebody that throws trash and we have to pick it up."
Education major Sonia Gonzalez said she enjoyed the experience and she recommends that her classmates and friends do their part to go green.
"The experience was awesome because it gave me the opportunity to help the community," she said.
Flores said helping to take care of the planet is important, and more people need to do it.
"When they have the choice to go and to see what is being done I think they get a really good understanding of what protecting the environment is," Flores said. "My hope is that eventually they will keep participating in other activities and living a greener life."
According to their Web site the association was formed with the goal of bringing together teenagers and students to preserve Mesquite. Students from high schools in Mesquite created their own association which belongs to Keep Texas Beautiful, Inc. and Keep America Beautiful, Inc.
In addition to the biannual trash bash, KMB organizes several other events to help keep Mesquite beautiful. For more information visit their Web site at keepmesquitebeautiful.org.
amadeo_lopez_texas@yahoo.com
Twice a year Keep Mesquite Beautiful, Inc. works with community volunteers to clean up trash in city parks, a job they've taken on since 1994.
"I'm a very environmental person and I would like students to get some environmental awareness, but also to have fun doing it," Flores said. "During the summer I had a lot of participants, but last Saturday we had some good participation too."
Flores offered extra credit to his students and said he expected around 50 to sign up.
Volunteers showed up at City Lake Park at 9 a.m. before being dispersed to different parks in Mesquite.
KMB Executive director Jami Russell said around 400 people participated. Normally Russell said they average 300 volunteers.
They collected trash from 14 different areas in Mesquite.
"This year we also had students from national honor societies, from different Mesquite high schools, and also the Girl Scouts and several business cooperated, as well as individuals who heard about this in the news and decided to go green for the community," Russell said.
Flores said each of his students were given one 30-gallon bag and many of them were able to fill their bags, despite the park initially looking clean.
"It was weird because we weren't expecting a lot of trash because the park looked clean," Education major Jaqueline Palma said. "But after we walked into hidden areas we found trash, clothes, and other wastes under a bridge."
Palma said this is the third event of this nature she has attended because she is interested in helping the community rather than just receive extra points for her class.
"It was motivating because a lot of kids got involved and they were energetic to finish the work," she said. "I started to do this because there will be always somebody that throws trash and we have to pick it up."
Education major Sonia Gonzalez said she enjoyed the experience and she recommends that her classmates and friends do their part to go green.
"The experience was awesome because it gave me the opportunity to help the community," she said.
Flores said helping to take care of the planet is important, and more people need to do it.
"When they have the choice to go and to see what is being done I think they get a really good understanding of what protecting the environment is," Flores said. "My hope is that eventually they will keep participating in other activities and living a greener life."
According to their Web site the association was formed with the goal of bringing together teenagers and students to preserve Mesquite. Students from high schools in Mesquite created their own association which belongs to Keep Texas Beautiful, Inc. and Keep America Beautiful, Inc.
In addition to the biannual trash bash, KMB organizes several other events to help keep Mesquite beautiful. For more information visit their Web site at keepmesquitebeautiful.org.
amadeo_lopez_texas@yahoo.com
Be the first to comment on this story