CHMS Helping pick up trash

A group of students from Chicago Heights School District 170’s Middle School took part in the recent City-Wide Clean-Up hosted by 2nd-Ward Alderman Sonia Perez and CHMS 7th- Grade Science Teacher and 2nd-Ward Park District Commissioner Elizabeth Perez.

The City-Wide Clean-Up is an annual event hosted by the City of Chicago Heights to maintain and keep the city beautiful. As part of the process, residents were welcomed to drop off large items and yard waste.

For the past five years (except for last year when the COVID-19 pandemic caused the cancelation of the event), the Second Ward has welcomed student volunteers from School District 170 to help clean up neighborhoods. This year, students collected more than ten bags of garbage over the two-block area, a substantial increase in litter over previous years.

"The students and I worked for several hours cleaning up an area from East End Ave/ 22nd Street to East End Ave/Main Street by Garfield School," Perez said.

During the event, the students frequently mentioned their intent to make sure their families would not litter and expressed frustration with people's carelessness. Some even were interested in cleaning up other parts of Chicago Heights that they identified as problem areas and hoped to include in future clean-up efforts.

"I think it was really fun to hang out with other kids and be doing something other than just sitting at home,” said Everest Paxton, a CHMS 7th-grader.

“It felt good to be helping in some way, even if it was small. Even though it was mostly fun, it was really sad seeing trash everywhere and moving on to a different area knowing we couldn't clean everything because of how dirty it all was."

CHMS 7th-grader Serenity Williams expanded upon those thoughts saying, "I really enjoyed going out and cleaning up our city.”

“As a young teen, I have an obligation, just like everyone else, to help keep my city clean and litter-free. In the future, I would enjoy having more teens and even more adults helping us keep our city beautiful."

"After helping clean up on Saturday, I believe every resident should do their part to help keep the city clean. I think my classmates and I lead by example in volunteering our time this past weekend to do our part," added CHMS 7th-grader Adalberto Martinez.

In addition to the CHMS students, the Forever Young Youth Committee from the New Chicago Heights Community Committee also participated in cleaning up alleys in the area. The group collected more than five bags of discarded trash from a single alley.

Students who participated in the event were: Milagros Martinez (2nd year Bloom HS), Adalberto Martinez (7th CHMS), Maritza Martinez (7th CHMS), Alejandro Cruz (7th CHMS), Everest (Shawnice) Paxton (7th CHMS), Serenity Williams (7th CHMS), Pablo Chagolla (7th CHMS), Haelyn Cruz (7th CHMS), Ever Flores (7th CHMS), Faith Perez (7th CHMS), and Esmeralda Gomez (7th CHMS).

Along with Lina Tovar (Youth Committee Advisor), participating Forever Young Youth Committee members were: Jasmin Perez (freshman Bloom HS), Jaime Sahagun (freshman Purdue Northwest University), Julio Cornejo (freshman University of Illinois Urbana Champaign), Manuel Flores (freshman Prairie State College), and Luis Urbina (3rd Grade Garfield School).

"This experience helped me realize the difference I can make in my community by simply picking up litter. Many residents stopped to say thank you for our group's hard work. Helping the community and making it better is something I am passionate about, and I am grateful to be part of this event," concluded BTHS freshman Jasmin Perez.