River clean up to raise funds for school trip

OHS teacher Will Stewart is again sponsoring the annual cleanup at the Highway 16 bridge below the Morris Sheppard Dam at Possum Kingdom Lake on Saturday, Nov. 16.

This cleanup has a history of being successful through the five years that it’s been done.

“This event, started by Graham resident Grant Ingram, is now a fiveyear tradition,” Stewart said. “In that time, we’ve removed nearly 450 bags of trash and large pieces of debris from the popular recreation site. Sadly, throughout the year, the area ends up littered by those that use it. In the grand scheme of things any trash that enters the river system in our area has the potential to clutter the Brazos from its headwaters to the Gulf of Mexico harming the environment and organisms that inhabit it.”

Though this is a volunteer event, Stewart’s OHS Biology Club students are always at this cleanup every year to contribute.

This river cleanup also acts as a fundraiser for the club’s summer trip to Belize, which is very successful in raising money with its included raffles.

“This year, the nine OHS Biology Club students traveling to Costa Rica with Ecology Project International in June 2025 will join the cleanup with me,” Stewart said. “Our Belize travel group contributed significantly in 2022 and a smaller group in 2023.”

While he does look forward to gaining more funds for the Belize trip, Stewart is also excited to help contribute to helping rid the environment of pollution.

“We aim to continue making a positive impact while raising funds for our trip,” Stewart said. “We are also using this event as a fundraiser. Businesses or individuals can pledge a dollar amount per bag of trash that either our travel group collects, or the entire cleanup.

Anyone interested in making a pledge or donating to our trip can contact me, Will Stewart, at wstewart@olneyisd. net.”