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Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
From left, Andrew Lee, Sireesha Reddy, Wendy Tsu, and Renu Asti, students from Brandi Mohun's fifth grade elementary class, hold bags of garbage that they collected at Calabasas Park in Cupertino. The class is participating in a year-long community service project in which they help the community on a monthy basis during the school year.
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Operation Cleanup
By MELISSA MATCHAK
As the ninth hour of the morning began, the previously silent park came alive with the sounds of children milling about, excited to be out of the classroom. On this particular day, however, the fifth-grade class came to Calabazas Park in Cupertino with a specific goal--to rid the park of every last piece of trash.
The 25 fifth-graders, led by teacher Brandi Mohun, walked from nearby Meyerholz Elementary, armed with plastic trash bags and one rubber glove apiece. As they arrived at the park, Mohun gave her class a few instructions. The objective was for each student to fill his or her plastic bag with trash from the park.
Mohun kept a watchful eye on her students as they spread out excitedly in their search for litter. She explained that every month since the school year began in September, a group of four or five students from the class has decided on a community service project for the class to participate in.
Peter Hu, 11, was one of the students who came up with the idea to clean up the park.
"I wanted to make the environment more clean," Hu said. "It sounded like fun."
Brittany Lansford, 10, another student from the group that proposed the park cleanup, shared Hu's sentiments.
"We decided to do something we couldn't do at school, and we noticed the park was messy," Lansford said. "It's fun to know the park will look nicer and know you were one of the people who did it."
Mohun said she made a conscious decision to focus on community service in her classroom. She added the class has also participated in such projects as decorating Christmas trees for the Cupertino Senior Center and donating to the Humane Society.
"I want to show them they can make a difference, even at a young age," Mohun said.
In addition to participating in the community service projects, the students are asked to write about their experiences after the project's completion. Mohun said she is working on her master's degree, and the community service projects are her focus.
As the students filled their bags with food wrappers, cigarette butts, napkins, cans and other trash, they ran to proudly show their teacher what they had collected.
"I like going to parks, and it's fun to run around and pick up trash," said Tiffany Quan, 10. "It's good to help the community and you don't want to pollute the air."
"Everyone lives in this environment, and it needs to be clean so people will want to keep it clean," Hu said.
After the class gathered for a group photo to document their hard work, they carried their bags, now filled with trash, to nearby garbage cans and said goodbye to the freshly cleaned park.
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Cupertino, California Since 1947
