Students help Green Team with cleanup

STAFF REPORT

CANFIELD — David Graham said picking up litter along the highway may not be a lot of fun, “but someone’s got to it.”

Graham, from Austintown Fitch, is a student in the Horticulture program at the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center. As a community service project, the horticulture students recently cleaned up Palmyra Road, which runs past the school, gathering trash and recyclables as part of the Adopt-a-Spot program run by the Mahoning County Green team.

The students are responsible for keeping the area clean by performing two cleanups a year, one in the fall and the other in the spring. This is the second time the students performed the cleanup.

One thing the students learned with this project is the importance of keeping the environment clean.

Maryia Kozyra of Campbell said that in addition to just picking up the debris, the students also had to separate it into recyclable material and trash. One of the benefits for the community is that “cars go by and get to see the job we did,” she said.

Chris Mortimer of Austintown thought it was also good exercise.

Katelynn Deitz of Jackson-Milton said she thought the project was important because “we need cleaner areas.” Most of what the group picked up could harm animals and the environment, she said.

The students worked in two-hour shifts to clean the road between U.S. Route 224 and Turner Road, and by the end of the day collected more than 11 bags of trash and recyclables. The Green Team provided the students with vests, cones, gloves and bags for the cleanup and came later to pick up the bags.

Chad Kislingbury of Boardman said the project will provide the neighbors of the school a better view.

The cleanup is a natural fit for the Horticulture students because they are already involved in the environment and it works well with the curriculum of the course, said instructor Mary June Emerson.

“Everybody can do it, and they did a great job. The community supports us a lot, and we felt like this was a way to give back,” she said.

A sign will be placed on Palmyra Road by The Green Team to recognize the students’ efforts.