Cleanup on Sumner Street

By Katelyn Freil, News Editor

The College of Education organized a cleanup of Sumner Street on Thursday in an effort to clear any trash remaining after Sumner Fest.

“We need to remember that children live in the neighborhood,” said Elizabeth Kerns, an academic adviser for the College of Education. “How can they play outside or feel they live in a safe community if the sidewalks are covered in glass and debris?”IMG_9188 2

The event was coordinated by the College of Education, said Kerns, and they worked with Alison Doehring, the coordinator of civic engagement, who supplied them with the necessary tools for the clean-up. Eight College of Education students, one student life graduate assistant and four employees worked for an hour to clean the debris.

Kerns said the UA Student Success Seminar course does service learning at Leggett Elementary School on Sumner.

“Each year we walk the students from the campus to the school so they can find their way, but also so they can see the neighborhood in which these children live,” Kerns said.

Kerns said the sidewalks were covered in glass and other trash, including a broken TV in the street.

Sumner Fest is an annual party held every year on Sumner Street. This year, the party took place on Aug. 31. Police were called as party-goers got out of control and flipped a car sitting on a street.

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“It sounds like it was a situation that got out of control and hopefully has become a learning experience for all students,” Kerns said.

She said the students wanted to have a final say in what happened at Sumner Fest.

“We wanted, in one small way, to show that we care about the neighborhood and the people who live there,“ Kerns said.