On an average school day, the lovely sights of Seminole High School include, but are not limited to, plates of uneaten breakfast on the Renegade stairs, straw wrappers littering the grass, and empty snack packets scattered around the foliage for that extra touch. While many students have accepted this as part of the SHS scenery, Advanced Placement U.S. History Teacher Mr. Guy Stump is taking action against littering on campus.

While some argue that it’s the job of the janitors and occasionally the students in detention to clean up outside, it is also the responsibility of each individual student. In order to make our campus more visually appealing, the student body has to come together and take the initiative— alongside of Mr. Stump.

“By picking up trash, I could make it the new norm instead of just throwing it on the ground,” said Stump.

On the morning of Oct. 20, Stump led his APUSH students outside of Renegade with trash bags and gloves. The cleaning was limited to outside Renegade and around the courtyard, but the amount of trash the students collected was astounding. Students were surprised to find that there were wrappers everywhere, paper on the ground, and even small pieces of glitter practically embedded into the dirt.

“It was especially in the grass. A lot of straws and food products everywhere from people neglecting to pick it up,” said junior Isabelle Lehr, one of Stump’s students.

Despite the work effort, the students enjoyed themselves. They were allowed to listen to music, talk, and have a quick laugh about all the garbage. Students were able to spend time together outside of class while still doing something productive.

“I used my imagination and listened to music to make it more enjoyable,” said another one of Stump’s students sophomore, William Diaz.

Stump’s reasoning behind the trash-cleanup was quite simple; he simply got tired of looking at all the trash and thought it made SHS look poorly managed. Not only was it done to make the campus a little nicer, it also taught  his students a valuable life lesson.

“I was trying to teach students to take responsibility for their school’s well being,” said Stump.