Riverview students help keep Phillippi Creek clean

Riverview High School sits on the banks of Phillippi Creek making it the prime goal for the high school’s Marine Club to help clean it up. 

A group of 30 students joined forces with the Southgate Community Association and spent the morning on Saturday sweeping the creek for debris and trash while riding kayaks. Tandem and single kayaks for the day were donated by SUP Sarasota for the third year in a row. 

The groups launched from the Southgate Community Center and split up into teams with one paddling north on Phillippi Creek and the other going south. Riverview High School Marine Science teacher Katrin Rudge went with the group of students that paddled south on the creek for a mile and a half. 

“It’s a little different than showing up at the beach and saying here’s a bag,” Rudge said. “We wanted to partner with someone in the community because think it’s good for high school kids to get connected with their neighbors. It made sense to me to combine the two.”

Using gloves and trash grabbing tools, donated from Sarasota Bay Watch, they combed through brush that lined the creek. Some of the objects Rudge and her group found included an Adirondack plastic chair that fell in the creek and was returned to a nearby dock. There were also plastic bottles, Styrofoam, dog toys and even a Little Tyke Cozy Coupe car floating in the creek.