Chambers County Commissioner Sam Bradford began the Clean Up Chambers County initiative in partnership with ALPALS in 2022 and challenged all local schools to participate in the Clean Campus Program. The Chambers County Commission incentivized participation by providing $250 to each organization that cleaned up a designated mile in the county. This was the perfect opportunity for Valley High School’s newly formed Ecology Club and was the financial boost needed to get started! What started as a way to provide funding for the club turned into a chance to teach and remind students that pulling together for a common purpose as a group can be rewarding and fun.
The goal of the club was to lead the charge in bringing environmental awareness to others at Valley High, so students decided the best way to incorporate the mission of getting more students on board was to host Lunch-n-Learn library programs during the students’ normal lunch waves. The ticketed event, hosted by Jamie Mitchell for the last two years, was attended by approximately 130 students each year. Interested students were invited to sign up and eat lunch in the library while the program focused on statewide efforts to keep “Alabama the Beautiful” was presented. Through this annual program, students learn the importance of recycling and are encouraged to participate in the recycled art contest in the spring. This year’s “Love Your Earth” Lunch-n-Learn is planned for February 13th and we look forward to having Shay Grant as our presenter.
Members often come up with fun ways to recycle and we try to schedule activities each month to keep students interested. Some favorite past projects include:
- March 2023: Students helped the Corp of Engineers at West Point Lake weed an overgrown bed and planted a butterfly garden. They also picked up trash on one of the hiking trails.
- April 2023: Students participated in the City of Valley Clean Up Day by picking up trash on the Rails to Trails walking path, which happens to be right in front of the high school. They also cleaned up their first mile of trash in the county on this day.
- November 2023: Students had an opportunity to recycle and incorporate a field trip. The students collected pumpkins (non-carved or non-painted) that people were ready to toss and donated them to Wild Animal Safari for the animals to have nutritious snacks.
- January & February 2024: The greenhouse cleanup and restoration during the winter was one of our biggest projects of the year. An old greenhouse on campus was an eyesore and the students felt passionate about cleaning it out and using it, even though it was not fully functional. After cleaning and tossing broken and non-usable items, they organized what was left and even built a compost bin. The students grew plants and donated them to a local assisted living facility. The vegetables grown were nurtured, fertilized, and harvested for our members to enjoy and give away. The students were sad to see the greenhouse go when it was later sold as surplus, but they now feel inspired to search for funding for raised beds and a smaller greenhouse in the future.
- March 2024: The club recycled old t-shirts to make dog toys to donate to the Chattahoochee Valley Humane Society. “Day of Change,” our school’s annual service day, was held with over 150 students taking part. Ecology Club members helped clean and bring new life to a courtyard at Lanier Hospital while others helped a local non-profit organization pick up litter in a residential area.
- April 2024: On April 20th, the Ecology Club took part in the city’s “Clean Up Valley Day” by picking up trash on the Rails to Trails trail before heading out to complete the designated one-mile pickup for the county. Students collected 6 bags of trash on the trail and 12 bags in the county. One student’s artwork won an honorable mention at state in the ALPALS Recycled Art Contest.
- May 2024: The club participated in the annual “Preview Day” for 8th graders and worked the 4th grade Chambers County Groundwater Festival, guiding students through stations on water safety, conservation, and wildlife.
- July 2024: Students worked with a local civic group to help clean flower beds and a courtyard at Fairfax Elementary School.
- September 2024: Club members placed 1st in the homecoming parade with a “We Speak for the Trees” theme based on The Lorax.
- October 2024: The scrapbook committee worked hard to assemble a winning collection of items from the past year.
- November 2024: The club conducted a litter audit and found candy wrappers to be the most common trash on campus. Members attended the ALPALS Governor’s Luncheon to receive the Clean Campus Award.
- December 2024: Students created centerpieces made of greenery collected in the woods and donated them to a local Senior Living facility for Christmas.
Anyone with a passion for making our school, city, state and nation a better place to live is invited to join The Ecology Club. We often work with the Chambers County 4-H leaders to seek opportunities for leadership development and activities. The club does not require service hours but provides an opportunity for students to accumulate them through many of our activities. Students have learned that participating in meaningful activities and having fun together can be very rewarding as we strive to make our school, city, and county a better place to live.
Being visible and bringing awareness has seemed to make students think twice before throwing trash on the ground. Change has to start somewhere, and these students are enthusiastic about seeing change. We are very thankful to have ALPALS visit our schools each year, lighting a fire in these students, and for providing the framework to help bring about change in our community. Thanks to Sam Bradford, the Chambers County Commission, and the City of Valley, these high school students have had many opportunities to help build pride in our community. The feedback received and opportunities that continue to come our way lets us know that others value what we are trying to accomplish. If students are seen on the side of the road picking up litter, it is our hope that many adults will soon follow their example and hold onto their trash until they find a waste basket.