Oak Park cleanup day a hit

SOPHIA FISCHER/Acorn Newspapers PITCHING IN- Sam Geldin, a Medea Creek Middle School student, and Jeri Edwards, of North Ranch, pick up trash on a slope at the school. Edwards initiated the first communitywide cleanup day through the Oak Park Municipal Advisory Council to encourage residents to keep their neighborhood clean. Spring cleaning has come early to Oak Park.

On Sat., March 24, more than 150 people, including students, teachers and school Superintendent Tony Knight, turned out to support the community's first Cleanup Day.

The group found enough trash to fill 250 large trash bags. The litter included plastic bottles, beer and soda cans, snack bags, shoes, a tire and even a $5 bill.

"We've already filled up three or four bags with stuff. We see it at school, so it's not like it's a surprise," said Adam Kaplan, 13, a seventh-grade Medea Creek Middle School student who picked up garbage from a slope at the school along with friends Brandon Camhi, Tristan Britt, Yohan Marshall and Moe Scott.

The idea for a cleanup day came last October when North Ranch resident Jeri Edwards asked members of the Oak Park Municipal Advisory Council for help in reducing the amount of trash discarded throughout the town.

An avid hiker, Edwards said she was disheartened by the increasing amount of garbage she saw when out walking, particularly near Oak Park schools. MAC members pledged support, led by new member Mike Green, who helped coordinate the event. Student government and parent/ teacher groups at Brookside Elementary, Oak Park High and Medea Creek Middle School volunteered to help.

"Jeri Edwards did a fantastic job as chairperson for this event. She really is concerned about the environment and what an effect trash has on it," Green said.

On Saturday, Edwards was right alongside students, climbing steep, overgrown slopes to collect discards.

"We found some really smelly trash up there," said Edwards, who worked with Sam Geldin, 13, a Medea Creek eighth-grader. "Whoever it is, is just drinking and eating and throwing the bags and bottles in the bushes."

Edwards said she was thrilled by the turnout and enjoyed working with students.

"A lot of kids are seeing how much trash is here. The reality is hitting them," Edwards said. "Mike said, 'Look at what we can do when the community works together.' This is just the beginning."

Medea Creek teacher and Associated Student Body adviser Rick Barclay was among the cleaners. Barclay had encouraged ASB students to attend the event as part of their community service requirement. Other teachers had also promoted the event, including Medea Creek instructors Jean Martin, who oversees the school's California Junior Scholarship Federation chapter, and Jennifer Nelson, who offered her students extra credit for participating.

"It's incredible how much trash is in the community," Barclay said. "We just cleaned the campus last Monday for some visitors, and I've already filled two bags."

Filled trash bags were tied up and left on street corners to be picked up by Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District. Bags were disposed of in a large trash bin provided by Waste Management at Oak Park High.

Edwards hopes such events will occur several times a year. Green is already planning another cleanup day in late fall.

"I was very impressed with the turnout and the support," Green said. "A comment I heard most often was that they 'never realized how much trash was out there.' When you drive by, you think it is clean, but when you walk, you see it."