K.I. SAWYER -- High school students from Detroit are helping to clean up a U.P. highway through Northern Michigan University's Upward Bound Math-Science program. The 24 students helped clean up a portion of M-94 near Sawyer International Airport with the Adopt-A-Highway program. Upward Bound Math-Science is a program that helps high school students prepare for college when they are the first of their family to attend college.

This highway was chosen in honor of Ralph Bennett, a former pilot for the Department of Natural Resources, who worked out of Sawyer.

"My father passed away unexpectedly five years ago. We were crushed and so we thought, how could we keep his name, how can we carry on? So we adopted this stretch of highway, I think we have two miles, in his honor," said Kelly Simon, a Career Prep teacher at NMU. 

The Michigan Department of Transportation provided all of the supplies for the cleanup.