Students and staff Walk Hampton Clean

 

Thanks to the encouragement of their dedicated teachers, students at several Hampton schools are building the essential skills outlined in the Portrait of a Hampton Graduate and making their community a cleaner, better place along the way!

Partnering with the Hampton Clean City Commission, these young leaders have been busy constructing, integrating, and applying content knowledge, while demonstrating collaboration and leadership. Every April, the Hampton Clean City Commission invites the community to Walk Hampton Clean as part of the Keep America Beautiful Great American Cleanup. This year, our students rose to the challenge.

Patrick Elementary School administrative secretary Janice Gustafson may have expressed it best, “It makes my heart happy to see the students take ownership in helping keep our school grounds litter-free.” At Patrick, 82 first and fourth graders from Kara Earley’s, Caitlin Misenko’s, Janel Jones’, and Jonathan Leake’s classes spent Earth Day sprucing up their school grounds. In total, they collected 6.5 pounds of litter! Hard-working first grader Leila Mossbarger shared, “It felt good to pick up trash, but my hands were sweaty from the gloves.” 

Meanwhile, at Burbank Elementary School, 18 enthusiastic kindergarten students from Missy Powell-Riedl’s class participated in their weekly cleanup, timed perfectly for Earth Day. They collected a bag filled mainly with plastic wrappers. Powell-Riedl noted, “Everything we do - no matter how big or small - can make a difference.”  

Approximately 60 Smith Elementary School second graders from Terri McCaughan’s, Kayla Hilton’s, and Megan Brittain’s classes also did their part to help the planet, cleaning up 15 bags of trash.

At Kilgore Gifted Center, Michele Ferrel’s and Paula Larson’s 105 students joined the Walk Hampton Clean initiative as well. While scouring the Kilgore school grounds, they gathered over four bags of trash - including a surprising array of items left behind from visitors using the sports fields.

At Jones Magnet Middle School, the National Junior Honor Society, led by language arts teacher and club advisor Melissa Still, and science teacher Sheryl McLaughlin also took action on Earth Day. The club members gathered 10 pounds of trash during their school grounds cleanup and noted with pride that the amount of litter is decreasing with every event, a clear sign that their ongoing efforts are paying off.

Stacey Rice said the Tarrant Middle School cleanup was “inspired by an 8th grade capstone project about combatting litter to help animals. Many of our students mentioned that they enjoyed being outside and that they were surprised by the amount of litter they found on our campus.” Rayvoughan Pearson and Juliza Caban also worked with the more than 80 students who conducted cleanups on April 29 and 30. The work of dedicated students and staff prevented five bags of litter from entering Hampton waterways.

Taking their efforts even further afield, 19 seventh graders from Lindsay Middle School, students of Tiara Kersey and Miyae Carter, teamed up with Jeffrey Saunders, water program manager at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, to clean up a wooded area adjacent to Big Bethel Reservoir on April 24. Before the cleanup, Saunders shared an interesting history of the reservoir and its importance to the Chesapeake Bay watershed. In less than two hours, the students collected eight large lawn bags of litter (almost 300 pounds!), including countless plastic bags, an old flip phone, and even parts of a car. They left exhausted but proud of their incredible contribution to the environment.

A Burbank kindergartner noted, “Picking up trash is something we all can do.” So HCS, take it from a kindergartner and pledge to Walk Hampton Clean in 2026.

Michele Ferrel, Janice Gustafson, Tiara Kersey, Sheryl McLaughlin, Missy Powell-Riedl, Stacey Rice, and Melissa Still all proudly serve as representatives for their respective schools on the Hampton Clean City Commission’s School Pride in Action Committee. Teachers interested in bringing more environmental education into their classrooms, or getting involved with the Hampton Clean City Commission, are encouraged to contact Betsy McAllister (bmcallister@hampton.k12.va.us) or Sally Lewis (salewis@hampton.k12.va.us).