About three dozen environmentally conscious students arrived early at Forest Lake Elementary School in the Wantagh School District on April 8 for some good old fashioned spring cleaning. By the time classes started, they had filled several bags with litter found around the back of the school.

Principal Jessica Zimmer said the idea was brought to her by second grader Avery Cohen, who had noticed some trash during a weekend walk with her father. Avery wrote a letter and put it in Ms. Zimmer’s suggestion mailbox.

“I try to say ‘yes’ to whatever I can, because I want students to have a say in their school,” Ms. Zimmer said, noting that Avery’s suggestion was a great idea with Earth Day coming up later in the month.

Students were joined by parents and younger siblings to spruce up the property for about a half-hour on a sunny Friday morning. Avery did her part to spread the word by making posters that were hung around the school. She and her brother, Braden, a fourth grader, also made a video that her parents shared on Facebook.

“This was important to me, because trash is bad for the environment,” she said. “This school is really important to me and I don’t want to see it dirty. I want to see it nice and clean. The school should be a beautiful place.”