Middle school students from R.B. Hudson took to the streets Tuesday, picking up trash and tree limbs on Water Avenue.

The students, part of R.B. Hudson’s mentoring group — the Bulldog Brotherhood —seemed to be enjoying giving back to the community.

The hope, according to sponsors Colin McConarty and Marcus West, is that members of the group show the younger generation how to invest time and effort into improving Selma.

“We’re trying to teach them what’s important in life,” McConarty said. “We really want to make it so we’re giving back to the community today, so we can all feel part of a group and feel part of the community, too.”

It’s always encouraging to see someone picking up litter or trying to make our city a little more beautiful, but we must admit that it’s even more refreshing to see members of our next generation of leaders doing it.

Imagine what Selma would look like if we all could find it in us to pick up our own trash, or simply pick up litter we pass on the streets.

Imagine how that could impact Selma and the city passersby see when they drive through our town.

With no offense meant to the younger generation, there’s clearly a lesson for all of us here.

If middle school students can find it in them to pick up trash on an out-of-school holiday, we’d like to think the rest of us could find a few minutes here or there to volunteer our time as well.

Here’s the thing: The need for less litter is something everyone agrees on, everywhere.

Litter will always be a problem for the rest of eternity, but a cleaner city of Selma does not have to just be a pipedream. If we all team up together, the way the Bulldog Brotherhood is, we can all benefit from a cleaner city with less litter.