GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado - "Contrary to popular belief, graffiti is a crime," said New Castle Police Chief Chris Sadler, addressing a group of 13 Riverside Middle School eighth-grade students Monday morning.

"I appreciate the enthusiasm and want you to know that what you're doing is helping the community in a tremendous way," Sadler told the kids.

And with that, the group ducked through a small hole between the chain-link fence and the Elk Creek Bridge in New Castle and disappeared beneath the bridge. Each student was armed with either a paintbrush or roller with one purpose in mind: to cover up the graffiti that marred much of the bridge's structural beams and concrete abutments.

This particular group was only one of several totaling nearly 130 eighth-graders doing tasks from cleaning up graffiti to picking up trash along Highway 6. The idea is a collaboration between the school and the New Castle Climate Action Advisory Commission to get the kids involved and educated on how they can help leave less of an impact on the environment, according to Brandon Newton with the climate group.

"One of the goals of the (climate commission) is to get environmental advocacy into the schools," Newton said. "We wanted to work with some of the science teachers in the schools and work on all sorts of environmentally friendly things the students can do to help out the community."

It wasn't a typical Monday morning for the eighth-graders, but it was a nice change of pace. And they were excited to be able to help ... at least some of them.

"I wasn't really excited," said eighth-grader Austin Pace as he painted over graffiti underneath the Elk Creek Bridge.

"It's kind of fun to hang out with friends all day and paint, though," Pace said. "It's much better than being in class."

But the students didn't get all day to hang out and paint; they only helped out for a couple of hours in the morning and will be out again on Tuesday pitching in. Their efforts are much appreciated by New Castle maintenance supervisor Bob Byram.

"I really appreciate you all helping out today," Byram told the kids before the work began. "It's really going to help us out as well as the town of New Castle."

Other students helped clean up the Mount Medaris hiking trail, the town's skate park and even pitched in with some yard work at the Castle Valley Ranch senior housing.

According to Sadler, the word must have gotten out about the students' efforts Monday, because the police found a couple of stolen stop signs around town that made their way over to the school, where one was found on the roof, and a mural on a wall located in the playground was covered in graffiti that read: "Graffiti is art." Sadler addressed the issue with the kids.

"Graffiti can be art if it's done in the right way, on a canvas or on paper," he said. "But no one has the right to paint on the bridge. It's our community, and I don't think the people appreciate it. If we let it go the whole town would be a mess."

Contact John Gardner: 384-9114jgardner@postindependent.com



Post Independent, Glenwood Springs, Colorado CO