Cadets in Southside High School’s Air Force JROTC program were recently honored with the Governor’s Award for the Adopt-A-Mile program by Alabama People Against a Littered State (PALS) Board Chairman Jeffery Helms.

The cadets received the award for their continued efforts to pick up litter along Dallas County Roads 69 and 465, though their efforts go well past that.

“It just kind of validates what we do here,” said Southside Senior Aerospace Science Instructor Lt. Col. Stephen Ruiz. “It’s a real honor.”

Along with their regular clean-up efforts along the two county roads they have adopted, the Southside cadets also take part in a bi-monthly Clean Campus Campaign in coordination with Alabama PALS and have taken part in efforts to clean-up Craig Field.

“We try to do what we can do,” Ruiz said. “We try to teach the kids accountability and responsibility.”

Ruiz said that, at first, people were skeptical of the cadets’ effort.

“A lot of people say ‘you’re just picking up trash,’” Ruiz said. “But it shows pride in the community and pride in their school.”

Eventually, however, people along the county roads began bringing snacks and drinks to the working students and expressed gratitude for their ongoing efforts.

On campus, the cadets have installed a handful of recycling bins and, once a month, they load up what’s collected and send it up the highway to Montgomery to be recycled.

Ruiz said the cadets previously cleaned up along Highway 80, but it was deemed too dangerous after the school’s sign was repeatedly destroyed by nearby car accidents.

On one of these clean-up jobs along Hwy. 80, the students found six $100 bills – Ruiz decided to contribute chunks of the found money to local churches and deposit a portion of it into the program’s fundraising account. The rest, Ruiz said, was used to give the students a pizza party.

“After that, we never had any problem getting people to volunteer to help out,” Ruiz said with a laugh.

This is the third year in a row that the Southside cadets have received the Governor’s Award and the fourth time overall.

“It’s a small project, but it’s positive stuff our cadets are doing,” Ruiz said.