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Seventh-graders waded through ankle-deep mud, water and trash on the lawn in front of Erik Ramstad Middle School Tuesday afternoon.

"EWWWW!" one of the girls moaned as she bent down to retrieve a piece of paper from the puddle. "Mrs. Larson ... Mrs. Larson ... I have flip-flops on."

It's been a long winter and residents of the neighborhood around Ramstad haven't always been as tidy as they could be. Into the bag went candy wrappers, cigarette butts, soda pop bottles and other debris left behind when last month's giant snowbanks mixed with salt and sand melted away.

The computer club members were getting a jump start on Earth Day, which is technically celebrated today, by cleaning up the trash. Seventh-grader Erin Richards said picking up the trash WAS kind of icky, but it was good too because it is helping the Earth.

Sandi Larson, the adviser for the computer club, reminded the kids to keep the plastic bottles separate from the other trash so they can recycle the bottles.

Larson said the computer club members also sold T-shirts with an Earth Day message for the last two weeks. T-shirts bought by the kids have a bright green frog and the message "Celebrate Earth Day." Teachers' T-shirts are a lighter green and have "Erik Ramstad Middle School" written across the front. All of the students and teachers who bought T-shirts plan to wear them to school today in celebration of Earth Day.

Erin's dad, Jeff Richards, got a brochure in the mail advertising the Earth Day T-shirts and Erin gave the brochure to Larson, who ordered them as a fundraiser for the computer club. Larson said she ordered 50 T-shirts and has sold all but four of them so far. Some of the proceeds from the sale will probably go back to the computer club for different projects.

The computer club also plans to clean keyboards for teachers next month as a sign of appreciation for teachers.

Earth Day is a day held annually to encourage awareness of the need to protect the environment. It was first celebrated in the United States in 1970 and was founded by U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson. It is now celebrated in various other countries around the world.

Ramstad marked Earth Day a day early because a school talent show being held today conflicted with the planned clean-up, said Larson.