Teens 'Take to the Streets' For Earth Day

By Ceiba Staff

While many of the county’s teens prepared for a sunny weekend at the beach, (pronounced SAY-ba) took to the streets with trash bags, brooms and smiles to kick off the Earth Day weekend.

“We were all excited to see how much trash we could pick up—661 gallons of trash,” said 8th grader Ismael Rubalcava. “It was cool to see how much nicer it looked when we were finished,“ the 14-year-old added with a smile.

“These teens showed pride in their community and demonstrated their willingness to do their part to beautify downtown Watsonville,” said teacher and organizer, Cal Brackin.

The students participated in a weeklong earth celebration to build awareness and action. Thematic earth-centered activities include Paper or Plastic Monday, Sustainable Cooking Tuesday, Solar Energy Thursday. The week culminated with the students painting and returning 154 grocery bags to Raley’s on Main Street in Watsonville, then “taking to the streets” to pick up trash on Friday.

“I love these opportunities for our students to give back to their community in positive ways, added middle school principal, Heidy Shinn, “It reminds me of why I am in education."

The community beautification day is part of Ceiba’s mission to instill a commitment to community improvement through service.

Ceiba College Prep is a public charter school of the Pajaro Valley Unified School District dedicated to preparing historically under-served students to graduate from college and succeed in life. CEIBA stands for the values we are teaching our students: Creativity, Effort, Integrity, Benevolence and Assertiveness. Ceiba student will be participating in the Summit for the Planet walk-a-thon on April 28. For more information call 831-728-6208.