Each Saturday morning after home football games, dedicated Key Club volunteers gather in the stadium bleachers to collect trash and litter left behind, helping to keep the school clean.
For the past two years, Stone Bridge Family Liaison and Key Club advisor Beth Gloe has been running clean-ups in the stadium bleachers. The event is able to significantly reduce the amount of litter on school grounds, even with a relatively small amount of volunteers.
“In the past, we’ve probably had anywhere between three [volunteers] to probably ten or twelve.,” Mrs. Gloe said. “The more hands we have, the quicker we get done. They also get double hours of volunteering, so usually students can get 2 hours of volunteer time.”
The amount of littering at football games has become an increasingly pressing issue, despite the school’s rules that forbid throwing trash or confetti at games. The excessive trash left behind is not only destructive to school property, but it creates an unnecessary burden on cleanup crews. This insensitive behavior is becoming more visible, especially to students who attend the games regularly.
“Yes, I see a lot of people littering,” sophomore Gianna Jacob said. “I see them throwing their empty water bottles or even full water bottles under the stands.”
The stadium clean-ups not only help to keep school grounds clean, but also reduce the workload for the school custodial staff. By assigning the job to students, it shifts some responsibility from the staff to the students, holding them accountable for their actions. Many students litter during football games without realizing the consequences–that someone will ultimately have to clean up the mess they leave behind.
“I believe it is really helpful because not only does it help the environment, it helps the hardworking custodians, too.” junior Nancy Le said. “The custodians work really hard to keep our school clean and by helping them where we can, I hope that it will encourage them to continue the work for keeping our school clean.”
Le has been doing stadium clean-up as a part of Key Club for the past year. The opportunity to help her school has allowed her to feel like a valuable member of her community and a part of something bigger than her alone.
“I originally was drawn to Key Club because I am passionate about contributing to the community and the world around me.” Le said. “Key Club was the right step in that direction. Stadium clean-up was very convenient to me and close-by, and it is such a simple way to help to be a part of helping the community and school.”
Key Club’s efforts to clean up the stadium have not gone unnoticed, often carrying out somewhere between 10-15 bags of trash after each clean-up. Many students have expressed how impactful the endeavors have been on the cleanliness of the stadium.
“I think that it’s very effective,” Jacob said. “When we get there after a football game or something, the bleachers would be very messy and full of litter, but after we clean it would look very clean and organized.”
