Archive: June 18, 2022

DALLAS – (April 22, 2020) Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in partnership with the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), is pleased to announce the recipients of the  President’s Environmental Youth Award (PEYA). Among the winners are Annie Zhu and Shirley Zhu, students at Bellaire High School in Houston, Texas, who coordinated with local groceries and bakeries to redistribute excess food to people in neighborhoods lacking access to these stores.

“As we celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of Earth Day, we are also celebrating nearly 50 years of environmental education that fosters awareness about conservation issues, and helps communities make informed, responsible decisions about their environment,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “We are also honoring dedicated educators who spark enthusiasm in our youth to develop a love and respect for the environment and find solutions for issues that impact our air, water and land.”

“Shirley and Annie Zhu, along with their volunteer team, show how taking action can solve several problems at once,” said Regional Administrator Ken McQueen. “These innovative, hard-working students are turning every day into Earth Day, and helping fellow Houston community members in the process.”

Shirley and Annie founded Project Fresh Hub with the goals of reducing food waste and eliminating food deserts, which are areas that lack access to grocery stores or other sources of fresh, healthy food. The students collaborated with local groceries, bakeries, and food charities, and coordinated a group of 90 volunteers from three schools, to pick up, sort, and redistribute excess food at Fresh Hub market events. The students have organized 13 of these events since 2018, serving nearly 1,100 community members and saving 8,000 pounds of food from landfills. They also developed an app to help raise awareness of the events and promote healthy eating habits.

From across the country, 10 educators and 35 students are being recognized for their leadership and commitment to environmental education and environmental stewardship. This year, seven educators will receive the 2020 Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators, and three educators will be recognized with an honorable mention distinction. Winning educators demonstrated leadership by integrating environmental education into multiple subjects and using topics such as healthy school environments, environmentally friendly agricultural practices, reducing ocean litter, gardening, recycling, or STEM to teach sustainability to K-12 students.

Additionally, 35 students who worked as a team or individually on 13 projects will receive the President’s Environmental Youth Award. Their stewardship projects, conducted in 2019, display a commitment to learning, to protecting natural resources, and to engaging their communities in environmental protection.

Background

Since the establishment of the original Environmental Education Act of 1970, The President’s Environmental Youth Award (PEYA) Program has recognized outstanding community-level environmental projects by K-12 youth for almost 50 years. Today, as part of the National Environmental Education Act of 1990, PEYA continues to promote awareness of natural resources and encourages positive community involvement.  Each year, PEYA honors a wide-variety of local-level projects developed by students, school classes, summer camp attendees and youth organizations to promote engagement in environmental stewardship and protection. Students in all 50 states and U.S. territories are invited to participate in the program.

Connect with EPA Region 6:

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eparegion6 

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/EPAregion6

About EPA Region 6: https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-region-6-south-central  

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DALLAS (April 22, 2020) — Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in partnership with the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), is pleased to announce the recipients of the  President’s Environmental Youth Award (PEYA). Among the winners is 10-year-old Prince Nallamothula of Frisco, Texas, who developed a mobile app to raise awareness of recycling in his community.

“As we celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of Earth Day, we are also celebrating nearly 50 years of environmental education that fosters awareness about conservation issues, and helps communities make informed, responsible decisions about their environment,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “We are also honoring dedicated educators who spark enthusiasm in our youth to develop a love and respect for the environment and find solutions for issues that impact our air, water and land.”

“Students like Prince give us all an example to live up to—if you find a problem, become part of the solution,” said Regional Administrator Ken McQueen. “Thank you, Prince, for putting science into action to help our environment. There is no better way to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Earth Day.”

Prince surveyed his community and found that less than a third of respondents recycled their household waste, and over two-thirds were confused about what can be recycled. To help make recycling easier in hopes of increasing participation, Prince developed the “3RApp,” named for the concept of “reduce, reuse, recycle.” With the app, users can scan a product’s QR or bar code to learn its recyclability as well as suggestions on how to reuse the item. The app can also be linked to smart devices like trash cans to open the right compartment based on recyclability of the item.

From across the country, 10 educators and 35 students are being recognized for their leadership and commitment to environmental education and environmental stewardship. This year, seven educators will receive the 2020 Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators, and three educators will be recognized with an honorable mention distinction. Winning educators demonstrated leadership by integrating environmental education into multiple subjects and using topics such as healthy school environments, environmentally friendly agricultural practices, reducing ocean litter, gardening, recycling, or STEM to teach sustainability to K-12 students.

Additionally, 35 students who worked as a team or individually on 13 projects will receive the President’s Environmental Youth Award. Their stewardship projects, conducted in 2019, display a commitment to learning, to protecting natural resources, and to engaging their communities in environmental protection.

Background

Since the establishment of the original Environmental Education Act of 1970, The President’s Environmental Youth Award (PEYA) Program has recognized outstanding community-level environmental projects by K-12 youth for almost 50 years. Today, as part of the National Environmental Education Act of 1990, PEYA continues to promote awareness of natural resources and encourages positive community involvement.  Each year, PEYA honors a wide-variety of local-level projects developed by students, school classes, summer camp attendees and youth organizations to promote engagement in environmental stewardship and protection. Students in all 50 states and U.S. territories are invited to participate in the program.

Connect with EPA Region 6:

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eparegion6 

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/EPAregion6

About EPA Region 6: https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-region-6-south-central  

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EPA Celebrates Earth Day and Environmental Education:

Announcing Winners of the President’s Student-Teacher Environmental Awards

Contact: Jennifer May-Reddy, (212) 637-3658, [email protected]

New York, NY. (April 22, 2020) Today, on the 50^th anniversary of Earth Day, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in partnership with the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), is pleased to announce the recipients of the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators (PIAEE) and the President’s Environmental Youth Award (PEYA). From across the country, 10 educators and 35 students are being recognized for their leadership and commitment to environmental education and environmental stewardship.  In EPA Region 2, which encompasses New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and eight Indian Nations, Veronica Morabito-Weeks, a teacher at Bretton Woods Elementary School in Hauppauge, NY will be receiving the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators and five students from Bridgewater High School in New Jersey will be receiving the President’s Environmental Youth Award.

“As we celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of Earth Day, we are also celebrating nearly 50 years of environmental education that fosters awareness about conservation issues, and helps communities make informed, responsible decisions about their environment,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “We are also honoring dedicated educators who spark enthusiasm in our youth to develop a love and respect for the environment and find solutions for issues that impact our air, water and land.”

“Environmental educators and students are the future of sustainability in our nation,” said EPA Region 2 Administrator Pete Lopez.  “I commend the winning students from Bridgewater, NJ and the winning educator Ms. Morabito-Weeks from NY on their extraordinary efforts to make this Earth a better place as we celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Earth Day.”

Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators

The Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators recognizes outstanding kindergarten through grade 12 teachers who employ innovative approaches to environmental education and use the environment as a context for learning for their students. The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administers this award to honor, support and encourage educators who incorporate environmental education in their classrooms and teaching methods.

The winner of this year’s Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators for EPA Region 2 is Veronica Morabito-Weeks.  Veronica is a fifth grade teacher at Bretton Woods Elementary School in Hauppauge, NY, integrates environmental concepts into other classroom subjects including: English, language arts, social studies, and math to ensure all her students experience nature firsthand.  She utilizes her 26 years of teaching experience to create inclusive, rich experiences that meet the diverse needs of her students.

Veronica’s students gain firsthand experience interacting with nature by studying and caring for animals including axolotls, chinchillas, trout, Bobwhite quails, and horseshoe crabs. She offers her students the opportunity to work with environmental professionals, hoping it may spark student interest in stewardship projects.  Building on the classroom experience, students can work with staff from Cornell University to release the trout they’ve raised and study invasive fish species through river sampling after school. Also, in collaboration with Caleb Smith State Park, the students hatch and raise quails to support a tick reduction program in the park.

The entire school community benefits from Ms. Morabito-Weeks environmental leadership.  Students benefit from Ms. Morabito-Weeks’ initiative in creating a butterfly garden, a native plant garden, and the Environmental Science Club.  Every year Ms. Morabito-Weeks organizes multiple environmental education field trips for the entire fifth grade.  As a New York State Master Teacher and a Lead Teacher for her Teacher’s College Language Arts Program, she provides professional development for other educators and takes part in continued citizen science opportunities to bring new projects back to her school.

“I am absolutely thrilled to receive this award,” said PIAEE teacher winner Veronica Morabito-Weeks. “I am motivated every day by my students’ deep commitment to make positive change in the world. I know that they are ready to be powerful stewards of the Earth, and I share this great honor with them.”

For more information on the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators, visit: https://www.epa.gov/education/presidential-innovation-award-environmental-educators-piaee-winners.

President’s Environmental Youth Award

The President’s Environmental Youth Award recognizes outstanding environmental projects by K-12 youth. Since 1971, the President of the United States has joined with EPA to recognize young people for protecting our nation’s air, water, land, and ecology.

This year’s Region 2 honorees were a group of five students from Bridgewater High School  who discovered a stormwater runoff problem on their school grounds.  The students were part of a Green Infrastructure Club at the school. After extensive research, the students concluded that the creation of a rain garden would be effective way to fix the flooding problem. They involved elementary, middle and high school students in the development of the rain garden.  In addition to protecting pollutants from entering the nearby Raritan River, the rain garden also provides an outdoor science laboratory for students in the school district. 

In 2019, the rain garden treated 3,950 gallons of rainwater.  The students are in the process of planting 600 bulbs to keep the rain garden going in 2020.   This project significantly improves the environment for students, teachers and members of the surrounding community. 

The five student winners are: Sujay Edavalapati, Pravar Jain, Amogh Jupalli, Aneesh Nagalkar and Ritika Thomas.  Their supervisors are Elizabeth DeMeyer and Sharon Blanke.  The students also fostered relationships with Rutgers Cooperative Extension Water Resources Program and the Raritan Headwaters Association. 

“When I learned the Bridgewater-Raritan High School Green Infrastructure Club had been selected to receive the Presidential Environmental Youth Award I was elated,” said Bridgewater-Raritan High School Principal Charles Ezell. “The young people who comprise the Green Infrastructure Club are tremendous stewards of and advocates for a sustainable environment.  For people so young to be thoughtful about the posterity of their community is remarkable, which is exactly how I would describe them.”

More information can be found at: https://www.epa.gov/education/presidents-environmental-youth-award-peya-winners.

Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://twitter.com/eparegion2 and visit our Facebook page, http://facebook.com/eparegion2

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For Immediate Release: April 22, 2020
Media Contact: Soledad Calvino, 415-972-3512, [email protected]

LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded the President’s Environmental Youth Award (PEYA) to Justin Sather, 9, of Los Angeles, and Nikita Bharati, an 11^th grader in Chandler, Arizona. This national award is presented each year to K-12 students who demonstrate the initiative, creativity, and problem-solving skills needed to address environmental problems and find sustainable solutions.

“As we celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of Earth Day, we are also celebrating nearly 50 years of environmental education that fosters awareness about conservation issues, and helps communities make informed, responsible decisions about their environment,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “We are also honoring dedicated educators who spark enthusiasm in our youth to develop a love and respect for the environment and find solutions for issues that impact our air, water and land.”

“We’re proud to honor the next generation of young environmental leaders who are helping solve environmental challenges and create a more sustainable future,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator John Busterud. “These students are making a real difference with far-reaching impacts in their communities and future generations.”

When third-grader Justin learned about declining frog populations, he was inspired through his work with the nonprofit Grades of Green to create a youth initiative called “For the Love of Frogs.” Justin raised money for frog conservation organizations, organized cleanups at a local wetland preserve and raised awareness through art and community outreach.

On Earth Day 2019, an African environmental science student, Perise, contacted Justin to ask what he could do with thousands of plastic bottles he had collected. Justin reached out to his network for ideas and received dozens of upcycling suggestions from around the world. Justin shared his network’s suggestions with Perise and then put these ideas to work himself in California. Perise did the same in Cameroon, and, in the end, they transformed nearly 8,000 bottles into works of art, planters, and other items.

These ideas, known as the “Parallel Projects,” became a daily and weekly collaboration. Supported by an Eco-Grant from Grades of Green, Justin continued this work to initiate an intercontinental collaboration of students in a series of projects involving plastic waste. Participants work in parallel, in their own countries, sharing methods and results with the goal of inspiring others and raising awareness of worldwide plastic pollution.

“Frogs are my favorite animal. When I learned frogs are becoming extinct it made me sad. I know frogs are telling us that the planet needs our help,” said student Justin Sather. “I want to be brave and work with people around the world to clean up the planet. Together we can change the world!”

As a member of the non-profit Arizona Sustainability Initiative, high schooler Nikita leads two projects within the Sustainable Food Systems Priority framework. The projects have reached more than 3,000 Arizona students who are learning about environmental sciences and sustainable food systems by using technology to grow and harvest healthy foods right in the classroom.

“Throughout my childhood, I frequented trips to India, often to visit close relatives and their hometown. I regularly noticed the poor conditions they lived in, ranging from the scorching summer days to times when my relatives would struggle financially due to heavy monsoon seasons damaging their crops, the main source of their income,” said student Nikita Bharati. “My great fear of how these issues would go on to impact my generation and those to come became a call for change and an inspiration for my environmental work.”

Nikita’s first project, Food Tech for the Future: Growing Digital Farmers, introduces high school students, teachers, volunteers and the community to “food computers” by building a chamber with robotics to control climate, energy and plant growth to raise vegetables. This highly interactive project allows students to learn about biology, water efficiency, genetics, robotics and technology by conducting their own plant growth experiments.

The second project is the Vertical Garden program, which creates and supports a food-growing curriculum throughout 16 schools located predominantly within Maricopa County food deserts, where fresh produce is lacking. The project teaches kids how to grow food through alternative gardening methods, create the space and access for students to experiment with growing and eating nutritious foods, and provide the schools with a source of fresh produce.

From across the country, 35 students were recognized for their remarkable efforts that promote environmental education and stewardship. The 35 student award recipients – who worked on teams or individually on 13 projects – each received the President’s Environmental Youth Award. Altogether, EPA received 76 project applications from 26 states.

Established by the 1990 National Environmental Education Act, the PEYA program promotes local environmental awareness among our nation’s youth and encourages positive community involvement.  EPA Headquarters works with staff located in EPA’s 10 regional offices in the selection of award recipients across the country.

To learn more about Justin and Nikita and the other PEYA winners, visit: www.epa.gov/education/presidents-environmental-youth-award-peya-winners

For information on environmental education at EPA, visit: www.epa.gov/education

Learn more about EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region. Connect with us on Facebook and on Twitter.

*Caption 1: Justin Sather with a collection of plastic caps he encouraged his community to save.

*Caption 2: Nikita Bharati standing next to one of the many vertical gardens.