Grade 7 Road Cleanup 2023

SJK has been involved in the Region of Waterloo’s Adopt-A-Road program ever since I can remember. The Grade 7 classes have traditionally taken responsibility for the annual clean up of our own Shantz Station Road from Victoria Street to St. Charles Street in Maryhill. Once again this year, the event took place as part of our Grade 7 Pond Study in June. 

Students are divided into groups and assigned to a teacher supervisor. After receiving some instructions and safety guidelines, they grab their garbage bags, gloves, and safety vests and head to the road. The four kilometre stretch of road is divided into sections. Some groups are shuttled to their drop off and pickup locations and others can walk. Each group works for approximately an hour, searching the gravel shoulder and roadside ditch area for litter. 

In addition to the obvious benefits to the environment, this hands-on experience brings awareness to the amount of litter that is carelessly tossed along our roadways and neighbourhoods. Students often comment on the number of fast food containers we find. And, every year, groups return to the campus to exchange accounts of the most unusual item they saw!

Special thanks to Rev. Steers, Mrs. Malcolm, Mlle Dias, and Ms. Watson for helping to supervise the cleanup this year. Kudos to the Grade 7 students on a job well done!