Humboldt High School students volunteered to clean up and garden around Humboldt Tuesday morning in honor of Earth Day, an annual event celebrated globally to support the environment.
Students picked up trash, raked leaves, collected sticks, tilled and planted flowers and flower seed around the area.
Terry Meadows, HHS band and choir teacher, organized the cleanup.
“Terry managed all of this,” volunteer Staci Wyatrak said. “He got all the groups together and the T-shirts made. He spearheaded this whole thing.”
The students all wore matching bright, neon-green T-shirts.
Vada Aikins volunteered to oversee some of the students gardening the Neosho River Park. Aikins also helps out every Friday afternoon, when a class of 25-30 students led by teacher Traci Schaughnessy comes to the park for a 30 minute clean-up.
Aikins hopes that the flower seed the students planted in the river park will bloom by Pride Day, June 14, to show off the park.
Aikins said the city is trying to get a restroom installed in the park. About $28,000 is needed to build the bathrooms. To date, $10,000 has been pledged. The city of Humboldt has applied for an additional $18,000 grant from the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks to complete the project.
A group of students also helped garden and pick up trash around the town square.
Ellery Robertson has been volunteering in Humboldt’s town square for several years and helped oversee the group of students.
“The community is becoming more aware of the plants and vegetation,” Robertson said. “The curb appeal we have in the community is important.”
According to Robertson, this was one of the best and hardest working groups of students he worked with.
People around the world celebrate Earth Day by doing activities designed to protect and help the earth, such as the Humboldt High School students.
“That’s what it’s all about, for the kids to learn,” Aikins said. “I just had one of the kids ask me about the tree signs and it was one he hadn’t heard of before.”
