Teens meet up to clean up Washington Square

A group of Washington teenagers gave the Square a sprucing up on Monday afternoon.

Members of the Washington Public Library’s Teen Advisory Board grabbed gloves and trash bags and walked the Square, picking up trash.

“We decided in honor of Earth Day, this coming Thursday, we would want to give back to our community,” Youth Services Librarian Jenisa Harris, who leads the teen program, said. “We’re going to walk around the Square and through the park to pick up trash and sticks to make our town look more beautiful.”

The teens were enthusiastic about their “Meetup, Cleanup” project.

“It hurts to see all the trash blowing around,” eighth-grader Molly Graham said. “Someone has to take care of this world that we live in.”

A love of the community and a desire to volunteer is a common thread among the Teen Advisory Board members.

“I’m doing this because I love this community, and I enjoy being in TAB,” eighth-grader Trevin Sulentich said. “I enjoy everybody in this program, and I’m really glad I’m doing this with them.”

His sister, 10th-grader Teegan Sulentich said, “I like helping the community. It makes me have a purpose.”

Eighth-grader Rita Du added, “I’m doing this because I love volunteering. We, as TAB members, love helping out our community.”

The Teen Advisory Board is made up of students from sixth through 12th grade.

“We have about 15-20 members,” Harris said. “We meet and do special events.”

She said the group is all about building relationships with the members and giving them an outlet to express their ideas and to have fun.