The Winners in the Lexus Environmental Challenge #1
Ahead of purchasing Volvo timing belts online, let’s take a look at what Lexus, the luxury car division of Toyota Motor Corp., has been doing lately.
With intention to urge the youth to join the quest for green campaign, Lexus has collaborated with Scholastic to design a program named Lexus Environmental Challenge. It is a program that helps in educating and empowering students to take action for the improvement of the environment. The Challenge is part of The Lexus Pursuit of Potential, a philanthropic initiative that generates $3 million annually in donations for organizations that help build, shape and improve children’s lives.
The Lexus Environmental Challenge is composed of two distinct elements, namely standards-based supplementary educational materials and a contest to reward environmental action.
Participants are middle and high school teams comprised of five to ten students and one teacher.
For the “Protecting the Land” Challenge, the first of the four challenges, there were fourteen school teams from 11 states that have been recognized for their outstanding environmental action plans. Each of the teams was granted with $3,000 in scholarships and grants, along with an invitation to participate in the Final Challenge for a chance to win one of two $75,000 grand prizes. More than $1 million in total scholarships and grants will be awarded to winning students, teachers and schools.
To inspire other young people in making a positive difference in their own community, the team’s winning Action Plans are being posted on the Challenge’s Web site. According to Mark Templin, Lexus group vice president and general manager, “In the first month of the Challenge, we had more than 10.000 unique visitors to the Web site, which tells us teachers and students are anxious to learn about the environment and find out how they can help improve it.” “Lexus congratulates this first round of winners, and we look forward to seeing more action across the country as other teachers and students discover how they, too, can make a positive impact.”
High School Winners
- “Team Kramedawg” — Farmingdale High School, Farmingdale, NY: Worked with administration and student government to increase awareness of the importance of recycling and started a recycling program on the campus. They created a Web site to help promote their idea.
- “The Elementals” — Herricks High School, New Hyde Park, NY: Researched the recycling habits of the campus community and used that information to help increase participation in recycling.
- “Manatee Team” — Manatee High School, Bradenton, Fla.: Improved school’s recycling program increasing teacher participation by 300 percent and raising awareness around campus about the importance of recycling.
- “Bayou Bartholomew EAST” — McGehee High School, McGehee, Ark.: Helped to clean up pollution in the longest bayou in the United States, Bayou Bartholomew. The team created a Web site to track the efforts of the clean up.
- “Newberry Environmental Girls” — Newberry High School, Newberry, Fla.: Started a bottle recycling program on campus with the potential to recycle more than 170 plastic bottles per day.
- “Viva Verde” — North Mecklenburg High School, Huntersville, NC: Organized “Viva Verde Fashion Show,” which showcases clothes made from organic cotton or secondhand clothing. Also hosted “Swap ’til you Drop” clothing exchange program.
- “The Ones Who Care” — Sierra Vista High School, Baldwin Park, Calif.: Conducted an outreach program to educate the campus community about the danger of pesticides to human health, soil, vegetation and animals.
- “Westminster CCC” — The Westminster Schools, Atlanta, Ga.: Increased recycling on the campus by creating the “Adopt a Recycle Bin” program, holding educational assemblies and recruiting volunteers to help in the recycling effort.
Middle School Winners
- “Eggsteins” — Great Neck South Middle School, Great Neck, NY: Explored the effects of deforestation by identifying trees, creating leaf impressions, and by taking younger students on nature walks.
- “Chi-Town Team” — Madero Middle School, Chicago, Ill.: Conducted an aluminum can drive and cleaned up a community park, both helping to raise awareness in the community about recycling.
- “The Eco-Gangsters” — Nevada Middle School, Nevada, Mo.: Increased participation in campus paper recycling program with a goal of recycling 2,500 lbs. by the end of the year, four times more than in previous years.
- “OJH World Environmental Managers” — Olympus Junior High School, Holladay, Utah: Cleaned up a local park and helped educate the community about recycling and proper disposal of trash.
- “The Spachio Six” — Phillipsburg Christian Academy, Phillipsburg, NJ: Raised awareness of the importance of recycling by tracking and recording a week’s worth of trash at their school. Discovered that 30 percent of waste is recyclable.
- “St. Margaret Science Club” — St. Margaret Catholic School, Lake Charles, La.: In the absence of a curb-side recycling program in the community, students increased participation in recycling through the school’s parent-teacher organization, school newsletter and school Web site.
The deadline of entries for the Challenge #2, “Water Works”, was last 9th of November. For Challenge #3, “The Air Factor”, you can still submit your entries until December 10, 2007. And, for Challenge #4 (Climate), entries will be accepted until January 7, 2008. Grand prize winning teams will be announced on Earth Day, April 22, 2008.
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