Over 150 high school students gave back to their community Thursday afternoon, by picking up litter throughout North Bay.
Students from West Ferris, Chippewa and Widdifield high schools picked up trash at their schools and in Callander, but the majority of the students took on cleaning up North Bay’s waterfront.
“We want to educate kids about environmental issues,” Kelly Brown, Principal of Widdifield High school said.
Brown and Tim Collins, Principal of West Ferris High School, explained that the event was part of an ongoing project with Communities in Bloom.
They explained that they chose the waterfront as the main target of the event because it is close to all three schools and is a highly used area of the city..
“It’s the park that made the most sense,” Brown said.
A donation of $500 was given to the schools by Tom Mason on behalf of the Clarion Resort Pinewood Park. The money was used to pay for the buses used to get the students to and from the litter pick-up sites.
“It’s great they’re doing this,” Mason said
“It will help support the waterfront for everybody.”
Mason explained that he hopes that picking up trash will help discourage the students from littering themselves.
However, the students looked as if they already understood the effects that littering can have.
“We came out to help improve the landscape and atmosphere here,” John Symons, a grade 12 student from Widdifield High said.
“Plus it is a nice day, so we came out,” added Rachel Richey who is also a grade 12 student from Widdifield High.
