Hawthorne Elementary students clean Delta shoreline

More than 65 Hawthorne Elementary students joined staff and parent volunteers in a shoreline cleanup before summer break, collecting about six standard-size bags of litter near the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal.

Teacher Jenna Atkinson organized the project for a second year. Students cleaned the beach area south of the terminal causeway and west of Tsatsu Shores, as well as the adjacent walking path. Participants found food takeout waste and other plastics, along with a discarded tarp, rubber gloves and full takeout containers.

Atkinson registered the event with Ocean Wise and worked with the City of Delta Climate Action Team, which supplied 30 litter pickers. City crews arranged to collect and dispose of the material.

Students from Atkinson’s Grade 2/3 class, Hunter’s Grade 4/5 class, and Holliday and McGill’s Grade 4/5 class took part. Atkinson said the student-inspired outing linked classroom discussions of global citizenship to a practical lesson about how individual litter can accumulate along a shoreline.