PHOTOS: Summit Hall Elementary Celebrates Earth Day, Cleans Muddy Branch

Summit Hall Elementary School fourth and fifth graders helped clean Gaithersburg's Muddy Branch as part of the 2013 Toyota TogetherGreen program, a spokesperson for the program said.

The April 26 program introduced students to service learning while clearing Muddy Branch of litter and invasive plants, GreenKids' Diane Lill said. The Summit Hall students removed a total of 25 bags of trash and recyclables as well as two bags of invasive garlic mustard.

The highlight of the day was when Summit Hall principal Keith Jones helped students remove a shopping cart from the stream, Lill said.

Volunteers from the Muddy Branch Alliance and Maryland Master Naturalists, and the city of Gaithersburg (Morris Park) helped the students remove the collected trash, Lill said.

Paul Hlavinka, President of the Muddy Branch Alliance, was proud of the Summit Hall students' efforts.

"The school is providing wonderful opportunities for children to connect with their local water resources," Hlavinka said. "From this connection, they will understand the need to protect such a fragile resource for this and future generations."

Summit Hall is one of two Maryland schools recognized on Earth Day as a National Green Ribbon School from the U.S. Department of Education.