By Donna Cope
Getting youngsters inspired early on about protecting the environment is key to a cleaner, more viable future, Sally Campbell and Julie Graves believe.
That’s why these Cherokee County school teachers jumped at the chance to get their students involved in a Weiss Lake Renew Our Rivers (ROR) cleanup.
The idea was the brainchild of Kadie Nowak, who talked with the teachers about hosting an ROR-style cleanup for kids. Campbell oversees gifted children’s programs for third through sixth grades at Cherokee County Elementary and Middle schools, and Graves, who teaches 10th-11th grade math at Cherokee County High School, agreed the event aligned perfectly with teaching plans for Earth Month.
Nowak estimated more than 100 students participated in the cleanup, a boon to the environment since the COVID-19 pandemic dampened volunteer response for two years.
“This year, I wanted to get a little more community involvement going on,” said Nowak, Alabama Power Shoreline Management Operations team leader at Weiss Lake.
The cleanup coincided with the schools’ focus on programs to preserve the natural environment. Twice a day for four days, half of Cherokee County students in the gifted program arrived to assist at 8 a.m., while a second group began helping at 12:20 p.m.
The Weiss Lake Improvement Association provided yellow ROR T-shirts for students, while Alabama Power’s Environmental Affairs team supplied trash bags and grabbers. Students picked up trash at three Alabama Power recreation sites – Cedar Bluff Causeway boat ramp, Cobia Bridge boat ramp and Bay Springs boat ramp – along with the Graves Three Rivers boat ramp.
“The kids had a blast,” said Nowak. “One day it was windy and a little chillier … but the kids were getting in there, just having a blast picking up all the trash around these different sites.”
Weiss Lake Improvement Association member Jamey Johnson carried several teens – some of whom had never been on a boat – on his pontoon boat to Yellow Creek Falls, where they picked up a lot of trash.
“It was a fun experience for a lot of the children, and a good opportunity to get out there and do something different,” Nowak pointed out.
Shoreline Real Estate Specialists Kat Bedwell and Brad Joyner, with contract employee Courtlin Brooks, helped monitor the kids, accompanying groups twice a day. A few parents came out to meet children’s cleanup teams at some sites.
Campbell accompanied eight different groups of students from Cedar Bluff, Centre, Gaylesville, Sand Rock and Spring Garden Elementary and Middle schools to
Weiss Lake, traveling on Cherokee County school buses.
“I thought it was awesome,” said Campbell, who noted the children would have liked to stay longer. “I thought the kids got a lot out of it … they all took it real seriously. We’d been studying pollution, clean water and clean dirt, and microplastics and that kind of thing, so it fit right in. The timing was wonderful when Mrs. Nowak mentioned the opportunity, and it worked out really well.”
An ‘amazing’ event
Nowak called the event, held over four days, “amazing.”
“We collected a dumpster and a half of trash,” she said. “It was just great … it was really exciting to see the enthusiasm these kids had. The sixth graders got off the school bus and were excited, just picking up trash. It was really nice to know that these kids were out there, even in the weather, just picking up stuff and having a great time with it.”
It’s something that comes naturally to Nowak, whose mother was an environmentalist and a science teacher.
“We always picked up trash,” she said. “My kids have always done that. My son, Harlan, was there on Monday and my daughter, Harper, was there on Thursday picking up trash.”
She was happy to see the students excited about improving the lake and the environment.
“Hopefully, they’re becoming more aware, not just when it’s a special project, but when they’re out, they’ll bend down and pick up a cigarette butt or small litter,” Nowak said.
She wants to incorporate the kid’s cleanup into ROR activities for Weiss Lake.
“We’re going to continue this as part of our annual cleanup,” Nowak said. “I’d like to get more children involved and make it more of a school effort.”
