On a quiet Saturday morning, a group of students, parents and community members dispersed throughout the school with black trash bags, blue gloves and miscellaneous tools, ready to revitalize the campus.
The TPHS Foundation organized a campus cleanup from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, calling members of the community to help pick up trash and pull weeds.
“The idea is … even if we were fully staffed with custodial, even if we have all the money in the world for groundskeepers, this is not enough to keep up with a school this size,” TPHS Foundation Executive Director Joe Austin said. “And so … as community members, we can complain about it or we can try to do something about it.”
The school has a history of campus cleanups that stretches back before Austin became executive director. This year, the foundation promoted the event through the athletic department and ASB philanthropy.
“This is by far the biggest turnout we’ve had,” Austin said. “I think part of the reason why we’re seeing as many people this time as we are is because we were using multiple methods to get the word out.”
After receiving word about the event, ASB Commissioner of Philanthropy Henri Tanghe (11) helped promote it to the community through ASB’s website, calendar and Instagram.
“We had a super great turnout this year, so it was awesome, seeing everyone from all different groups … we had a whole ton of different people,” Tanghe said. “I think it’s definitely gonna make a huge difference, because our campus is a lot cleaner … it’s just the little things that matter.”
Different factors inspired students to participate in the campus cleanup.
“Our campus is honestly pretty dirty and it’s kind of embarrassing,” Delia Mathis (12) said. “We’re a pretty well-known public school, so I feel like we [should] have pride in our campus.”
Besides sports teams like field hockey and lacrosse, who joined the effort after practice, clubs got involved as well. Elizabeth Conover (12), president of the school’s JustServe club, contributed to the cleanup with other members. The club aims to participate in community service together.
“[Events like this] brighten people’s day,” Conover said. “When they pull up and they see a bunch of dead weeds they’re going to be like, ‘Oh my gosh, this school [is so dirty],’ but when they see a nice, clean atmosphere, then they’ll probably be in a better state of mind.”
Volunteers focused on different areas of the school, fueled by complimentary snacks. Some cleaned up weeded areas, carrying shovels and rakes, while others roamed the lunch tables, wielding trash grabbers.
“The student parking lot is pretty bad because there’s a lot of dead weeds, which I feel like is easier to clean up, but it definitely does take a while,” Mathis said. “I think that’s probably the area that needs [attention] the most.”
With the goal of taking care of “the smaller things” like greenery to make sure the campus doesn’t look “sad or down,” Andre Salvatore (11) saw work to be done “anywhere where there’s plants and grass.”
Volunteers saw different areas to be in need of attention.
Cristian Villegas (9) highlighted the Falcon Eatery as in need of attention due to being “heavily populated” and having “a lot of trash.” Villegas added that “more trash cans in central areas” of the school would help keep the campus clean.
“I think that the biggest thing is just the personal move, which is not littering,” Tanghe said. “Little pieces of trash build up over time.”
Michelle Mathis, a parent and alumni of the school, is in charge of organizing the campus cleanups this school year. The next campus cleanup will take place in March or April. Michelle and the foundation also plan to hold one before graduation.