McKenna cleans up Airbase Road

Along with all the students in the school, Gig Grubb's class cleaned a portion of Airbase Road as part of Richard McKenna Charter School's Earth Day activities. Grubb's class alone collected over 2,000 cigarette butts.

As part of Richard McKenna Charter School's Earth Day observances, all of the school's students spent time throughout the day cleaning a portion of Airbase Road, April 22.

The students had committed to cleaning their portion of Airbase Road twice a year under the Adopt-a-Highway program. For this spring's clean-up, they were given an additional challenge by class to collect the most trash.

Teacher Todd Thorn said the students took the commitment seriously before, but the class challenge increased their enthusiasm for the project noticeably.

He said that included in the challenge was a contest to see how many cigarette butts could be collected. The butts were collected in separate "butt bags" and weighed at the end of the day.

The students said they, "couldn't believe how much trash people throw out, especially cigarette butts."