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The glass, bottles, cans, cigarette butts, food containers and plastic bags surrounding Edwin H. Vare Middle School was not emblematic of the pride within the facility. Though trash might have littered the building’s exterior, it apparently did not symbolize the sparkling attitudes of its students. So when the city contacted the school a month ago about taking part in the Streets Department’s Litter Free School Zone Program, its officials didn’t hesitate.
"I knew they would participate," fifth-grade teacher Regina Genoese said of her class. "They’re very eager to help their community."
Volunteering their time, 90 of the 97 fifth-graders (and some sixth-graders) removed the refuse surrounding the building at 2100 S. 24th St. and the path leading to Smith Playground. Now, their tidy ways and increased push toward recycling are rippling into other classrooms.
The three-month program, intended to teach youngsters the benefits of maintaining a spotless institution, is now enacted in six city schools — including Southwark School, 1835 S. Ninth St. — with the help of 250 students.
Fifth grade seemed age-appropriate for the project, Joan Hicken, the city’s recycling coordinator, said.
The program is "a teaching and a feel-good tool and hopefully it’s instilling habits they can take with them," she said.
However, Vare pupils have taken the project a step further: They created posters and poems on the importance of recycling, brought recyclable materials to school and made shirts with their signature name — "G’s Litter Patrol" — in recognition of their teacher.
"It’s an honor to be named after trash," Genoese said jokingly.
In actuality, the teacher has nothing but admiration for her students and the work they’ve accomplished.
"To pull up now and look around the school and see no litter, it’s such a beautiful building and they made it more beautiful," she said.
Dividing the class into three sections with about 30 students each, Genoese typically takes out one group per day for a class period. Their efforts have kept litter found in the playground at bay.
"In a month’s time, they have cleaned this building," she said. "I can’t tell you how much trash has been collected."
Flowers seventh- and eighth-graders planted in the gardens around the school’s perimeter are devoid of litter after cleanups. However, Genoese said, "people are still walking by here and tossing trash in the garden."
That might change after residents see the "Litter Free School Zone" sign anticipated for June placement at the facility.
Genoese said students are doing their part to keep trash in receptacles and not on the ground.
"We’ve seen less and less kids in our own school throwing things out [as litter]," she said.
Apparently, the teacher’s enthusiasm for the project is infectious, making such a dirty job seem enjoyable.
"Picking up litter is still fun because you’re doing it for the environment," student Amirah Howard said.
In her own time and with the help of two friends, Malika Hudwell, one of the group’s captains, ripped the caps off 1,000 collected cans. These pieces were then recycled with proceeds benefiting Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
"We had a student not involved with the program come in with a bagload of cans he found," Genoese added.
In addition to increasing recycling tonnage, some who initially never gave this earth-friendly endeavor a second thought are being transformed into green activists.
"It’s better for us to recycle so we can give [the materials] to the city and turn it back into something," Ishanaya Thornton, of 23rd and McKean streets, said.
Teacher Meg O’Donnell, who helps out with the litter-free program, has witnessed the scholars taking a vested interest in their second home. Even Smith Playground, which includes benches that are typically a haven for trash, is seeing cleaner days.
"We’ve noticed a change in our students," she said. "They’re starting to respect what’s theirs."
Next on the picker-uppers’ list is a May 24 cleanup at Northeast Philly’s Pennypack Park. Students, who received this special invitation from the city, will get the chance to meet Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection officials.
Genoese anticipates the program extending into the next school year. In the meantime, she has made a list of participating students, and their experience will be credited toward a mandatory service-learning project.
With the bulk of the trash gone, scholars like Alexandria Solano, of Passyunk and Snyder avenues, are now seeing their institution for what it truly is.
"The school is so beautiful," she said. "All we need is to pick up the trash."
