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PR STUDENTS HONORED AT THE WHITE HOUSE WITH PRESIDENT’S ENVIRONMENTAL YOUTH AWARD

Release Date: 03/26/98
Contact Information:

EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner will honor students from nine states and from the Northern Mariana Islands with the 1997 President’s Environmental Youth Awards. This annual awards program recognizes students who take a leadership role in learning about and taking action to protect public health and the environment and promoting environmental awareness in their local communities. The awards were presented at a White House ceremony in the Indian Treaty room on Thursday, March 26.
Vice President Gore said, “I am extremely heartened by the commitment and leadership of these young people working so hard to better their communities and our environment. Through their inspiring efforts, they are assuring a healthier environment for themselves, for their neighborts and for future generations.”

“These young students have shown promise and potential through their extraordinary projects in helping to create a cleaner, safer and healthier environment. They are our future and we are proud of their accomplishments,” said Browner.

The award recipients are from Soldotna, Alaska; Clearwater, Fla.; Chicago, Ill.; West Branch, Iowa; La Plata, Md.; Saipan, Mariana Islands; Scotch Plains, N.J.; Anthony, N.M.; Hyrum, Utah; and New Haven, Vt.

The President’s Environmental Youth Awards places emphasis on community involvement in protecting the environment and the role the environment plays in building a strong economy and protecting public health. The PEYA program was established in 1971 and it was President Carter who instituted an annual awards ceremony at the White House.

The National Environmental Education Act of 1990 governs the program. The act states that PEYA awards are “to be given to young people in kindergarten through grade 12 for an outstanding project to promote local environmental awareness.”

The winners were selected by EPA’s 10 regional offices. Each year, contestants submit applications along with summaries of their environmental projects to the regional offices. Regional panels judge projects on environmental need, accomplishment of goals, long-term environmental benefits and positive impact on local communities. The panels also consider project design, coordination, implementation, innovation and soundness of approach and the students’ effectiveness in presenting the projects.

A list of the winning projects is attached, along with contacts in EPA’s regional offices for additional information on specific winners.


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LIST OF PROJECT WINNERS


Angela Bonarrigo
USEPA, Region 1
JFK Federal Building(RPM)
Boston, MA 02203
617-565-2501
FAX: 617-565-3415


Cecilia Echols
USEPA, Region 2
290 Broadway - 26th Floor
New York, New York 10007
212-637-3678
FAX: 212-637-4445


Larry Brown
USEPA, Region 3
841 Chestnut Street, 3C100
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-566-5527
FAX: 215-566-5102



Alice Chastain
USEPA, Region 4
61 Forsyth Street, SW
Atlanta, GA 30303
404-562-8314
FAX: 404-562-8335


Julie Moriarty
USEPA, Region 5
77 West Jackson Boulevard - PI-19J
Chicago, IL 60604
312-353-5789
FAX: 312-353-1155

Pat Baker
USEPA, Region 6
1445 Ross Avenue
Dallas, TX 75202
214-665-7185
FAX: 214-665-2118

Bill Landis
USEPA, Region 7
726 Minnesota Avenue
Kansas City, KS 66101
913-551-7314
FAX: 913-551-7066

Fran Wiscamb
USEPA, Region 8 - MC 80C
One Denver Place
999 18th Street, Suite 500
Denver, CO 80202-2466
303-312-6613
FAX: 303-312-6961

Matt Gaffney
USEPA, Region 9
75 Hawthorne Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
415-744-1166
FAX: 415-744-1072

Sally Hanft
USEPA, Region 10
1200 Sixth Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101
206-553-1207
FAX: 206-553-0149


PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PRESIDENT'S  ENVIRONMENTAL YOUTH AWARDS 1997

Region 1 Michael J. Shafer New Haven, Vermont
Sponsor:  Roderick Burritt

The Monkton Vermont Recycling Center Joe Shafer, a 13-year-old Boy Scout spent his Saturday mornings volunteering at the Monkton Recycling Center.  When the Center manager resigned, Joe convinced community selectmen to allow him to serve as the recycling coordinator.  In four years, Joe has improved and expanded the recycling center and the annual operating budget has increased from $800 to $5,000.  The Center has been updated to accommodate new products manufactured using recyclable materials brought in by the community.  

Region 2 Union Catholic Environmental Club                                 Union Catholic Regional High School Scotch Plains, New Jersey
Sponsor:  Sister Mary Raymond

Earth Care Through Earth Care, high school students create and manage hands-on environmental activities to learn leadership skills and enhance their understanding of the local environment.  Hands-on experiences encourage students and their families to recycle, control litter and care for the earth.

Region 3 Lala Qadir La Plata High School  La Plata, Maryland
Sponsor:  Elizabeth A. Atkinson

Incineration in a Bubble II Lala Qadir, an 11th grader, used ultrasound energy to treat waste water contaminated by Nitroglycerine and Cyclonite through the manufacture of explosives.  Contaminated ground and process water on or near recently closed military facilities pose a significant health threat to surrounding communities.  The results of the preliminary investigation showed the successful breakdown of both chemical compounds.  Results were confirmed using high-performance liquid chromatography and a UV-VIS spectrometer.

Region 4 Sarah Nagy Suncoast Girl Scout Council Clearwater, Florida
Sponsor:  Heather Nagy
      Lou Henry Hoover Memorial Sanctuary Sarah Nagy, a Senior Girl Scout succeeded in getting Camp Wai Lani, a 46-acre tract of land on the Gulf of Mexico certified a memorial sanctuary.  Now owned by the Girl Scout Council, this camp is one of the few remaining intact ecosystems (coastal scrub) in the area.  Sarah performed a complete site survey to determine which species and habitats exist on the property and is educating other scouts about invasive exotic plants.  Her efforts have been instrumental in persuading the county commission to budget $16 million for the purchase and protection of the site and the adjacent 100-acre property.

Region 5 Adriana Gutierrez Hodges Middle School Chicago, Illinois
Sponsor:  Guillemina Rodriguez

What Goes Down Comes Up Adriana Gutierrez, of Hodges Middle School, researched motor oil disposal in her local community.  Adriana sent out one thousand surveys to citizens and local businesses.  She learned that many residents in her community change their own motor oil, but do not properly dispose of  used oil.  Most people simply poured used oil into garbage cans; only 25% knew of a recycling center near their homes.  Adriana's findings raised awareness in her community.

Region 6 7th Grade Science Class Gadsden Middle School Anthony, New Mexico
Sponsor:  Gloria Basden

Cottonwood Covey Project Seventh-Grade Science Class students reforested a riparian habitat area with cottonwood trees donated by AmeriCorps.  Because of heavy human impacts, one-time woodland areas at Rainbow Lake, near the Rio Grande River lost their ability to propagate naturally.  Cottonwood trees were replaced by saltcedars, invasive trees that consume three times as much water and support little wildlife.  The reforested riparian cottonwoods support 90% of the native and migratory wildlife.

Region 7 Science Club West Branch Middle School West Branch, Iowa
Sponsor:  Hector Ibarra

Partners in Environmental Science: Towards a Sustainable Energy Future Science Club members made energy-saving recommendations to the school board based on a comprehensive review of energy usage in school facilities.  Using a $14,000 bank loan, the club upgraded the schools' lighting systems to increase energy efficiency.  The schools' 70% energy use reduction encouraged the local bank to upgrade its lighting system and to work with other businesses in the community to do the same.

Region 8 South Cache Freshman Center  Hyrum, Utah
Sponsor:  Ron Hellstern

Hawks, Monarchs, Songbirds, and Habitat Students researched the life cycle of the Swainson's hawk, captured and banded adult and young hawks, and attached satellite telemetry to track a female hawk's migratory route to Argentina. Students also developed an Outdoor Classroom with 4,700 trees, shrubs, and wildflowers, and a trail a mile and a half long, with interpretive signs.  They organized more than 70 sites in eight states to join in a songbird monitoring program.  The students also tagged Monarch butterflies to learn their migration routes from Utah, planted butterfly gardens and made soil erosion demonstration plots.

Region 9 Tanapag Elementary School Sixth Grade  Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands
Sponsor:       Ron Snyder

Coral Reef Project Sixth-grade students celebrated the "Year of the Coral Reef" by learning about the importance of  coral reefs and sharing their findings with the rest of their island community.  Students constructed a life-sized model of a reef and stocked it with paper-mach‚ sea life.  They invited guest speakers to their classrooms, took field trips, participated in beach cleanups, sponsored a community coral reef day, and painted a wall mural.  The students also created a web page to spread the word to other schools all over the world.      

Region 10 Patrick Bennett Soldotna, Alaska
Sponsor:       Denise L. Newbould

Caring for the Kenai River: A Computer Program Pat Bennett, a high-school junior, was motivated by a school assignment to enter an environmental contest called Caring for the Kenai.  The Kenai Peninsula, home to a vast array of ecosystems and animal species, draws thousands of people to the Peninsula yearly to vacation and fish for Sockeye Salmon.  Pat developed an interactive computer program to help anglers learn how to fish the Kenai River without disturbing salmon habitat.  Pat's webpage notes that damage to the Kenai River is one of the single biggest threats to king salmon and other fish that support an estimated $41 million sport and commercial fishing industry.