Winners of the ‘Your Community, Your Litter-Pick It UP!’ Jingle and Video Contests Announced

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. – The Greater Hidden Hills Community Development Corporation (GHHCDC), in partnership with DeKalb County Commissioner Lorraine Cochran-Johnson, launched the Your Community, Your Litter – Pick It Up! campaign in March 2019 to encourage DeKalb residents to clean up their communities and eliminate litter throughout the county.

As of part of the campaign, a jingle contest and a video contest were held to build litter awareness and promote community pride. DeKalb County students were invited to participate and develop original content supporting the campaign theme.

Several entries were submitted for both contests and a committee of judges from the GHHCDC and DeKalb County’s Seventh District office selected winners based on various criteria, including lyrics, originality, music, interpretation and creativity.

“All of the schools and students that participated were phenomenal and extremely talented,” said Commissioner Cochran-Johnson. “DeKalb County is truly home to some of our country's most creative youth!”

Fifth-grade classes from two elementary schools participated in the jingle contest, and the winning submission is “Stop, Drop, Pick It Up,” created by students of Victoria Waterman and Mieya Moore at Eldridge L. Miller Elementary School.

We encouraged the students to participate because we educate the whole child, not just academically, but socially,” said Mark E. Bryant, principal of Eldridge L. Miller Elementary School. “We teach them it’s important to care for the environment.”

The jingle’s artistic, upbeat tempo and catchy lyrics inspire the listener to engage in picking up litter in their neighborhoods, because “littering is just not cool.”

Equal in talent to the jingle submissions were the video entries from two high schools. The winner, “Pick It Up: Video 2” by De’Ziya White, a senior student in Joel Kight’s class at Martin Luther King Jr. High School, gives the viewer a glimpse of what can happen to our beautiful world’s clean water and lush landscapes when one piece of trash is carelessly tossed on the ground.

The GHHCDC and Commissioner Cochran-Johnson encourage everyone to listen to and view the winning jingle and video at http://bit.ly/2K4rfs5.

The anti-litter campaign will culminate with a collaborative DeKalb County Cleanup Day on Saturday, June 1, 2019, with the goal of creating a massive presence along roadsides and in high-traffic areas within the four corners of the Hidden Hills Overlay District. Volunteers are asked to meet at 9 a.m. at 1215 S. Hairston Road, just south of Redan and South Hairston roads.

Communities that wish to join the effort should email amslocum@dekalbcountyga.gov or call 404-371-3681.

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