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Hillside School Kids Win Top Honors in National Environmental Contest

Release Date: 04/18/2000
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(#00069) New York, New York -- The Hillside Environmental Leaders & Protectors (HELP) from Bridgewater, New Jersey, won the President's Environmental Youth Award (PEYA) for their study on habitat loss and the effects on wildlife populations within their community. The PEYA is a national award that recognizes young people who become an environmental force, individually or collectively, within their community. Each year, EPA selects ten winners from across the country, one from each EPA region. HELP was recognized at EPA Region 2's Annual Environmental Quality Award ceremony today in Manhattan. "The youth are our future environmental stewards, so it is crucial that we encourage and nurture in them an understanding of and appreciation for the environment," said Jeanne M. Fox, EPA Region 2 Administrator. "The better educated and more engaged our youth are today, the cleaner and healthier the environment will be tomorrow." HELP is composed of 60 fourth and fifth-graders from the Hillside School. The group has taken on numerous successful environmental projects that include: creating a wildlife refuge and bird sanctuary on six acres of Hillside School property; establishing a wildflower and native grass meadow; designing and establishing a freshwater marsh; reducing lunchroom waste by 20% with a new school lunch composting program; educating others about habitat loss through several creative projects; and, raising money for these projects with three walk-a-thons titled, "Footsteps for Frogs," "Trot for Toads" and "Hillside's Hawk Walk." The students organized a letter writing campaign to local, regional and national figures regarding their concerns about deforestation and attended meetings of their town council to participate in and better understand the decision-making processes that can affect habitat conservation. In addition, HELP wrote a musical play, Migratory Birds, about the loss of habitat in suburban communities. They performed the play four times in June 1999 for students at Hillside School and other schools in East Orange, New Jersey. The group also gave an evening public performance of Migratory Birds for guests, which included leaders from New Jersey's environmental community, members of the Board of Education, school administrators and elected local officials. The Hillside School students also were honored at a national ceremony held at the White House in Washington, D.C. on April 12, 2000.