Interact Club tackles unsightly road waste

Have you ever seen the road behind the old K-Mart that’s crowded with trash from the past few years? Well, you should take a look at it again! Interact Club members adopted this road many years ago, and they finally got the chance to dedicate a service project towards making it free of waste.

On March 12, 16 Interactors met early in the cold morning to spend two hours clearing the road. They gathered up in the parking lot armed with their gloves, trash bags, water bottles, and rakes. The Interactors worked together in pairs to accomplish their goal in time. While one person held the trash bag, the other partner collected as much trash as they could. Since most of the trash was stuck in the bushes, the small rake heads came in handy for a few members like junior Alexander Vargas.

“There was a specific bush that had a lot of pieces of paper that were stuck between the area,” said Vargas. “Going in with our bare hands seemed difficult, so we used my metal rake to scrape out all the trash from it.”

Rotarians Cheryl and David Saint Amand supervised the members and took part in clearing up trash as well. Cheryl Saint Amand is the Rotary advisor for Interact Club at Burroughs and was pleased with the amount of interest shown in helping out.

“I was thrilled with the number of students that participated,” said Saint Amand. “The energy level was great because everyone was motivated to complete the entire road length that was in front of the school!”

Afterward, the members piled up the bags in the back of a truck and filled around 15 of them with all the garbage they collected.

Sophomore David Miranda is an involved Interactor and went to the road cleanup to do service and spend time with some friends.

“We poked fun if our friends had less trash in their bag, playfully,” said Miranda. “I was surprised and impressed with the difference we made to the road.”

As the blazing sun started to come out, Interact Club decided to finish off their service project with lunch from Little Caesars.

The Rotarians graciously paid for everything, and the Interactors enjoyed eating outside while conversing with their friends.

Junior Emma Kimbler was happy to see the small yet impactful contribution they made to the community.

“Even picking up a few pieces of trash can go a long way in making our town more beautiful,” said Kimbler. “I noticed that when our club came together to pick up trash, the area looked so much better; teamwork really helps to make the work effective.”

The club overall shows passion for helping the community with their actions and involvement in service outside of school. If students are interested in joining Interact Club, the meetings occur every Tuesday in Room M-41 at the beginning of lunch.