The “Don’t Mess with  Cy-Fair” campaign will be launched once again this year to bring awareness to the large amount of trash and litter around the school.

   Now, Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) teacher and “Don’t Mess with Cy-Fair” founder Elissa Twachtman wants to spread the influence further, incorporating bigger organizations like Key Club and Environmental Club to help keep the school clean. While this campaign began last year with just a powerpoint slide showing pictures of the litter, Twachtman now wants to expand the project so that everyone can pitch in.  Twachtman has ideas such as “Adopt a Hallway,” which would have one group take care of a specific hallway and keep it clean. This would allow different organizations to contribute and involve the entire school at the same time.

   Key Club President Deborah Owolabi said that by offering volunteer hours in Key Club for helping clean up the school, the majority of the litter problem could be easily fixed.

   “A lot can be accomplished by giving out volunteer hours,” Owolabi said. “Especially with the size of Key Club this year. If you just let people know that they can get hours for it, they’ll definitely help out.”

   Sara Sommer, a student of Twachtman’s who helped pick up litter last year as a part of the “Don’t Mess with Cy-Fair” project, said that even though having volunteers  pick up the trash is a good idea, a major part of the problem is the lack of trash cans around the back hallways and outside.

   “If there is no trash can within 15 feet of them, people just drop the trash on the ground,” Sommer said. “All the trash cans are inMain Streetand there are none in the back English hallways or in the area outside by the gyms, and those are some of the worst littered places. It’s easier to eliminate the problem before it begins rather than clean up the mess afterwards.”