Streams, lakes, oceans and ponds nationwide
got a little cleaner when middle and high school students across the country
entered the second phase of the Lexus Environmental Challenge, a program designed
by Lexus and Scholastic to educate and empower students to take action to improve
the environment. Sixteen school teams from 12 states were recognized today for
their outstanding environmental action plans for the "Water Works"
Challenge, the second of four challenges.
Each team wins $3,000 in scholarships and grants as well as an invitation to
participate in the Final Challenge for a chance to win one of two $75,000 grand
prizes. In all, more than $1 million in scholarships and grants will be awarded.
The teams' winning Action Plans are posted on the Challenge's Web site (www.scholastic.com/Lexus)
to help inspire other young people to make a difference in their own communities.
"Teachers are telling us they've never seen their students so motivated
and excited," said Mark Templin, Lexus group vice president and general
manager. "Our goal was to inspire young people to discover how they can
be a part of the solution, and now that we've seen the results of their efforts
in the Lexus Environmental Challenge, we're the ones who are inspired."
For each of the challenges, teams are required to define an environmental issue
that is important to them, develop an action plan to address the issue, implement
the plan, and report on the results. The Challenge #2 winners who best addressed
"Water Works" were:
High School Teams:
"The Fifth Element" - Barron Collier High School, Naples, Fla.: Conducted
an education campaign to increase awareness about the destruction of local coral
reefs and how to protect them. Outreach included posters/signs at designated
areas, leaflets to boating clubs, articles in the local newspaper and letters
to legislators.
"Water Wizards" – Cate School, Carpinteria, Calif.: Researched
water usage on campus and used data to make recommendations for water-conserving
landscaping and reduced water usage in classrooms and dormitories.
"Marine Science Researchers" – Clark Magnet High School, La
Crescenta, Calif.: Used GPS and GIS technologies as well as water samples to
show the contamination concentrations throughout the Los Angeles harbor and
shared the findings with public safety divers and the community.
"Herricks Envision" - Herricks High School, New Hyde Park, N.Y.:
Recruited 50 students to help at the Herricks Pond Clean-up and urged pond caretakers
to reduce the amount of pesticides used in the area. Reduced the concentration
of pesticides and contaminants in the water an average of 65.3 percent.
"Maine East Team" - Maine East High School, Park Ridge, Ill.: Created
flyers and pamphlets to educate students about a variety of water-related issues
including water resources, water conservation, flooding, disinfecting water,
and lack of wetlands. Pre- and post-surveys showed an increase in knowledge
and understanding of these issues among students.
"Save Our Fresh Water" – Olympus Junior High, Holladay, Utah:
Created a Web site and implemented a media outreach campaign to raise awareness
about the area's drought and how each person can help conserve water.
"Westminster CCC2" - The Westminster Schools, Atlanta, Ga.: Conducted
a school-wide water conservation program including homeroom announcements and
articles in the school paper about the drought and how to conserve water. Worked
with art classes to reduce water usage and encouraged battery recycling to decrease
potential water contamination.
"The Dream Team" - W.R. Farrington High School, Honolulu, Hawaii:
Organized beach clean ups at Sand Island Beach helping to reduce the amount
of debris as well as raise awareness in the community about water pollution.
Middle School Teams:
"Nature's Knights" - Bogle Junior High, Chandler, Ariz.: Tested the
water in nearby Lake Saguaro to determine the causes of pollution and created
posters to help educate other students about pollution and how to prevent it.
"CSI" – Brooklake Christian School, Federal Way, Wash.: Worked
with the parks department to organize a "Destruction Day" event aimed
to remove non-native plants from Hylebos Creek wetlands, including more than
800 lbs. of blackberries.
"Fixing a Waste of Water" – Chute Middle School, Evanston, Ill.:
Through research and measurement, the team discovered that more than 40 percent
of the faucets in the school's restrooms were pumping more water than necessary.
This project raised awareness among students about how to conserve water and
it also resulted in the school fixing the inefficient faucets.
"Sugar is Sweet, and Now Sugar House Pond is Neat" – Olympus
Junior High School, Holladay, Utah: Cleaned up Sugar House Pond and while doing
so, raised awareness of pollution and set an example for how a small group can
make a big difference.
"The Tree Huggers" – Olympus Junior High School, Holladay, Utah:
Removed more than 55 lbs. of trash and debris from Cottonwood Creek improving
the environment for the community as well as the animals that rely on the creek.
"The Water Wonders"- Phillipsburg Christian Academy, Phillipsburg,
NJ: Collected more than 200 signatures on a petition to urge the government
of New York to adopt sufficient flood control measures for the Delaware River
and to urge the government of New Jersey to require sufficient runoff basins
in new developments in the Delaware watershed to slow the pace of runoff water
from major storms. Wrote and performed a rap song to help raise awareness of
these issues among fellow students.
"WaterBoyz" - South County Secondary School, Lorton, Va.: Researched
the sources of pollution at Howling Point, cleaned up the area, and created
and distributed flyers throughout the neighborhood to encourage the community
to help keep the water at Howling Point clean.
"St. Margaret Science Club"- St. Margaret Catholic School, Lake Charles,
La.: Invited a water district representative to speak to the school's students
about the source of their local water. Created a video to help educate the community
about how to keep toxic materials out of local storm drains. Identified and
cleaned up 100 storm drains resulting in 5-6 truck loads of debris and 16 50-gallon
bags of garbage.
The Lexus Environmental Challenge launched on Sept. 10, 2007, and concludes
with the announcement of the finalist and grand-prize-winning teams on Earth
Day, April 22, 2008. Winning teams for Challenges #3 and #4 will be announced
soon.
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