Parents, teachers and students joined together to remove 1,000 pounds of trash—including a deer jawbone and a cell phone—from a riverbed Saturday in celebration of Earth Day.
The cleanup off Hospital Road was held just four days before this year’s nature-themed holiday. The weekend event was not the first time students have tackled the refuse in this riverbed.
“What was interesting is that there was far less trash this time than in the past,” said retired San Benito High School earth science teacher Jim Ostdick. “So things are improving, and that’s very encouraging.”
Several students were surprised to discover a deer jawbone in the riverbed and brought it to Ostdick for inspection before they posed with it in a picture.
“That was new to them,” he said. “They didn’t know what it was.”
Among those participating in the event were students from the San Benito High School Outdoor Club and the Accelerated Achievement Academy. Graniterock sponsored the event and provided a hot dog BBQ for volunteers.
Earlier this school year, Accelerated Achievement Academy teacher Susan Bessette’s class joined other volunteers in removing almost one ton of garbage from the riverbed in celebration of the California Coastal Cleanup Day. Students from her class formed a large number of the volunteers cleaning the riverbed this week in honor of Earth Day.
