This story first appeared in the Winter edition of the Harker Quarterly.

In late September, 50 members of the Harker community, including students, parents and teachers, got involved with California Coastal Cleanup Day by picking up litter scattered about Pillar Point and Pilarcitos Creek in Half Moon Bay. The effort was kick-started by parent Kelly Lewis Brezoczky (Emma, grade 5; Charlotte, grade 3; Katherine, grade 1), who believed it to be a good fit for the lower school’s theme of compassion. Brezoczky received help from service and Spirit Club advisor Katie Molin and Redwood City’s Marine Science Institute to coordinate the event.

“The students were excited to be helping the environment by collecting candy wrappers and other paper trash, as well as by finding an old tent and two shopping carts in the creek,” Molin said. Her daughter, Naomi, grade 7, received a T-shirt as a reward for discovering the most bizarre item of debris, a plastic net.