ARLINGTON — Members of the Arlington High School’s 61st Eagle Squadron took some time to clean up Highway 9.

Earlier this month, students from the squadron, the name of the school’s U.S. Air Force JROTC team, cleaned up an adopted section of the highway between 172nd Street NE (SR 531) and 204th Street NE.

In total, the group picked up 28 large, white garbage bags full of trash from the stretch of road, which runs between the high school and Pioneer Elementary School.

Students on the team take it upon themselves to pick up trash alongside the road four times per year, said Mike Blue, Arlington’s JROTC instructor.

In the last three years, the cadets have removed more than 240 bags of litter.

“Just imagine if all that stuff had been left on the highway,” Blue said.

Students taking part in the adopt-a-highway volunteer effort were Kriszl Pineda, Hayden Lamie, Dale Cherrier, Jon Pallagi, Alvin Abes, Jordan O’Neall, Reina Quimzon, Bryan Leaf, Steven Campo, Jacob Hughes, Alda Sarmiento and Brett Stovall.