With his broom in hand and the force of the Selma community at his back, Dr. Park Chittom and the rest of &uot;Selma One&uot; are ready to kick-start a new program into gear they hope will bring every parent and child together for one common goal: cleaning up the city.

The &uot;Sweep Selma Clean&uot; summer program will divide eight public elementary schools into teams. Each team will be responsible for keeping its designated section of the city free from paper and litter.

Each team within the school district will be led by principals and Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) presidents.

Team leaders will be responsible for establishing their own clean-up times and assignments.

On June 16 three Clean Team members &045;&045; Clyde Carter, Selma Police Department’s litter

control officer; Henry Hicks, code enforcement officer; and Marcus Hopkins, general services superintendent &045;&045; will begin using a point system to evaluate each school’s designated section.

Each section will begin with 100 points. The Clean Team will add or deduct between one to five points per home/vacant lot based on the litter present. Evaluators will be looking for overgrown grass around homes and schools, litter, abandoned cars and unkempt vacant lots.

Each school will clean its

designated sections until the first of September, but Chittom said the work won’t stop there.

Selma City Schools Superintendent Dr. James Carter said the summer program is a great way for students to understand the importance of respecting their community.