MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- "No sticks, no lizards, no sticks, no lizards," young Joseph Rivas Jr. chanted over and over to keep his mind focused on picking up trash.
Trash pickup wasn't what he originally planned when he set out to watch his brother's soccer practice on a recent Thursday afternoon at San Onofre Elementary School. As they approached the field, Joseph and his friend, Joey Renteria, came across a path full of trash.
Remembering a lesson his teacher had taught him, Joseph told Joey "the world will become a big trash can if nobody picks up their trash."
So the two 7-year-old boys put down their sticks and postponed their search for lizards to pick up the trash. The boys picked up every piece of litter they could find between the upper and lower soccer fields, said Yvette Rivas, Joseph's mother.
"They continued for the entire hour and a half (of soccer practice)," she added.
"When the boys came to Joey's mother and me at the end of practice, they were absolutley filthy - they were covered from head to toe with dirt and mud.?
The boys told her they needed trash bags.
"We didn't understand what they were talking about, so they showed us the collected trash," Rivas said.
Eventually the boys found some discarded bags, more trash, to dispose of their take.
Joseph's mother was surprised at what he?d done, because he rarely cleans his room, she said.
"This act was totally out of his character because it is like pulling teeth to get him to put away his toys," she said.
"I am so proud of their devotion and pride in their school and environment. I could not thank them enough.?
For his effort, Joseph was named Citizen of the Month at school.
"If people walk by and see how clean the school is now, maybe they will want to pick up their trash and not throw it on the ground,? Joseph said, explaining his pickup campaign.
The boys, who are in different first grade classes at the school, became friends a year ago at soccer practice; their siblings were on the same team.
They learned to pass practice time by playing with sticks and finding lizards, Rivas said. "All a boy needs, I guess."
Tiffany Coates, Joseph?s teacher, said she made the plea to keep the landscape clean as part of a lesson on ?Camp Pendleton and the World.? She asked the class how they could help keep the school grounds safe. A pupil suggested picking up trash around the campus.
?I was very impressed (at Joseph?s effort),? she said. ?A lot of kids heard (the plea); he?s the only one who did it.
?He?s a great helper, he takes initiative and has a great sense of responsibility. So, while I?m very impressed, I?m not surprised.?