HIGHWAY TRASH CLEAN UP: COMMUNITY COLLABORATION

Early Saturday morning on October 11th, Clear Creek Amana High School students who are members of various clubs such as Interact Club, Future Farmers of America, and National Honors Society, along with some members of the Coralville-North Corridor Rotary Club gathered to help clean up Highway 6. Volunteers split into three groups to divide and conquer. They picked up trash and debris along Highway 6 both West and East as well as the parking lots and surrounding area of the high school and middle school. This clean up lasted for about an hour and a half. It was a great way for students to care for the environment and give back to the community. 

After volunteers finished up, Mrs. Baxter enthusiastically told CCA students that their work to pick up trash around Tiffin has already been noticed and is appreciated by members of our community. She recalled that as she was cleaning up trash by the middle school, a patron visiting the Springmeier library noticed her trash bag and thanked her for cleaning up the community. She mentioned how when she was younger she also would pick up trash and worked diligently to keep the town trash free and clean. Mrs. Baxter thanked her and said that “We have a great group continuing to make our community clean and free of trash.”

Twice a year, in the fall and spring, Interact Club partners with the Rotary Club of Coralville-North Corridor to clean up Highway 6, which the Rotary Club has adopted. CCA’s Interact Club was formed in April 2011 by the Rotary Club and the highway clean up partnership began that same year.

This year, Interact Club is co-sponsored by Mrs. Baxter and Mr. Streit. High School students Rose Piehl and Brody Gorsh, both class of ‘27, are the co-presidents. Piehl reflected on the event’s success, “This year we had a lot better turnout. With NHS and FFA’s involvement, we had enough people to do both sides of the highway plus the high school and middle school parking lots. A lot more area was able to be cleaned.”

Gorsh stated that he was really happy with how the clean up turned out because “It was the fastest we were ever able to complete it, which shows how hard working everyone was to get it done. I thought something that was successful was getting NHS people in on the clean up. Having more people willing to help out is always great.”

Interact Club has several events a year and focuses on giving back to the community and providing for those in need. Some upcoming events include tree planting at Oak Hill on Saturday, November 1st at 9:00 am (however, in the event of severe weather such as lightning the back up date is November 15th), volunteering at the Coralville food pantry on Wednesday, November 19th from 1:10 to 2:50 pm, and on Wednesday, December 17th Interact Club will help out at the Coralville food pantry once again from 1:10 to 2:50 pm. Interact will also be meeting during Advisory on both Friday, November 14th and Friday, December 5th. 

The Rotary Club of Coralville North-Corridor is part of The Rotary Foundation, which was established in 1917. The President of Coralville North-Corridor is Victoria Struzynski Olson, a Clear Creek Amana Alumni. On The Rotary Foundation’s website, they state that their mission is to “help Rotary members to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace by improving health, providing quality education, improving the environment, and alleviating poverty.”

CLEAN UP CREW ON OCTOBER 11TH, 2025 WHERE NHS, INTERACT, FFA AND ROTARY CLUB MEMBERS CAME TOGETHER; PHOTO BY ALYSSA AMELON

Volunteering within our community is a great way to give back and help others. At Clear Creek Amana we are fortunate to have a variety of volunteer opportunities throughout the year through organizations and clubs like Interact Club, Rotary Club, National Honors Society, Future Farmers of America, Environmental Club, etc. From trash clean ups to food pantries to blood drives and concession stands at sporting events, getting involved and helping out within the community is a great way to make a positive impact on the world around you.