6-17-2025 3:51am

Local Schools Collect

The 11th Annual Clean Green 15: Litter Challenge Celebration

On June 12, The Education Foundation of Baltimore County Public Schools, Inc., in partnership with the Baltimore County Department of Environmental Protection and Sustainability and the Baltimore Community Foundation, celebrated the 11th Annual Clean Green 15: Litter Challenge. During the ceremony, $42,000 in grants were awarded to participating schools.

Since 2014, this innovative program has engaged more than 58,000 BCPS students, staff and community members who participated in more than 4,000 hands-on litter clean-ups, removing nearly 372,000 pounds of trash from our communities, preventing it from polluting our waterways.

School Year 2024-25 Highlights

From May 2024 through April 2025, the Clean Green 15 Litter Challenge resulted in 690 clean-ups conducted with 8,019 volunteer sessions where volunteers removed 41,830 pounds of trash that would have wound up in our streams and the Bay.

The foundation is delighted to report that the response to the challenge continues to grow each year.

Congratulations and thank you to this year's winners!

Baltimore County Department of Environmental Protection and Sustainability Clean Green 15 Awards (Open to all BCPS schools not within the Gwynns Falls or Jones Falls Watersheds)

Grand Prize

Cleanup Results ($3,000): Catonsville Elementary School
Volunteers ($3,000): Pinewood Elementary School

Special School

1st Place ($2,000): Watershed Public Charter School
2nd Place ($1,500): Battle Monument School

High School

1st Place ($2,000): Western School of Technology
2nd Place ($1,500): George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology
3rd Place ($1,000): Patapsco High School and Center for the Arts

Middle School

1st Place ($2,000): Dumbarton Middle School
2nd Place ($1,500): Perry Hall Middle School
3rd Place ($1,000): General John Stricker Middle School

Elementary School

1st Place ($2,000): Carney Elementary School
2nd Place ($1,500): Hillcrest Elementary School
3rd Place ($1,000): Carroll Manor Elementary School

Baltimore Community Foundation Clean Boost Awards (Open to BCPS Community Schools located within the Gwynns Falls or Jones Falls Watersheds)

High School

1st Place ($2,000): Woodlawn High School
2nd Place ($1,500): Owings Mills High School

Middle School

1st Place ($2,000): Woodlawn Middle School

Elementary School -

1st Place ($2,000): Hebbville Elementary School
2nd Place ($1,500): Woodmoor Elementary School
3rd Place ($1,000): Featherbed Lane Elementary School

Honorable Mentions ($900 each)

Bedford Elementary School
Church Lane Elementary School
Deer Park Elementary School
Edmondson Heights Elementary School
Johnnycake Elementary School
Milbrook Elementary School
Wellwood Elementary School
Woodholme Elementary School

Gratitude for our partners

These grants would not be possible without the dedication and support from our sponsors: the Baltimore County Department of Environmental Protection and Sustainability and the Baltimore Community Foundation.

Additional Thanks

Thank you to Matt Musgrove, CEO of Padonia Park and BCPS graduate for hosting this event.

Get involved in Clean Green 15: Litter Challenge

So, get involved…. It’s all about community coming together and working together. You and your group can make tons of difference for the environment—and help a Baltimore County public school get credit toward an environmental project grant! Establish a call to action today for your school-based group, place of worship, youth group, civic or community group, scout troop, sports team, business, or other organization. It’s easy and quick. Just grab some bags and take 15 minutes out of your day for your group to pick up litter in a messy area near you—a park, a schoolyard, a vacant lot, a stream, anywhere that needs it. No complicated program, no cost to taxpayers, no special coordination, or supplies—you decide when, where, who and how.

After your cleanup, visit the Clean Green 15: Litter Challenge webpage and let us know how much you picked up. We’ll track the amount of trash collected as part of the Department of Environmental Protection and Sustainability’s Chesapeake Bay restoration goals. Help us help the bay!

Anthropologist Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world. In fact, it's the only thing that ever has."

Visit The Education Foundation of BCPS, Inc.’s website for more information.

More photos from the Clean Green event can be found on Flickr.