News Releases - 2000

IEPA Honors Young Environmentalists With Reception at State Museum

Springfield, Ill. -- Fifth and sixth graders from around Illinois will be guests of honor March 25 when the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency hosts an awards reception from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Illinois State Museum in Springfield. Six youngsters will receive U.S. savings bonds, books, ribbons and certificates for submitting winning posters or written works on the importance of "Water: the Liquid of Life" earlier this spring.

Named as top entrants in the poster category were Katelyn Lotz, Macomb, a student at Edison School; Alex Johnson, Macomb, a student at Edison School, and Candace Schmidt, Lincoln, a student at West Lincoln Broadwell School. Winning essays or poems were submitted by Lynsi Hermann, Bartonville, a student at Oak Grove East School; Agnes Klimek, Chicago, who attends Louis Pasteur School, and Kathy Thomson, Matteson, a student at St. Lawrence O'Toole school. Two students, Kendyl Lyons, Sidell, Jamaica Elementary School, and Julia Markotay, Sparta, Sparta Lincoln Middle School, had entries in both the poster and written competitions make it into the finalist category.

Last fall, 700 teachers representing 39,184 students in fifth and sixth grades in Illinois schools signed up for the Agency's 13th annual "Air, Land & Water"environmental education effort. Emphasis this year was on "Water: The Liquid of Life." At the end of a two week focus on the importance of safe drinking water and steps to protect it, the students were asked to create posters or written works illustrating what they had learned. Emphasis rotates on a three year basis between water, land and air. The curriculum is currently being revised to meet the standards of the North American Association for Environmental Education Guidelines for Excellence. The updated version will be available for the 2000-2001 school years.

After initial entries were evaluated at the IEPA state headquarters in Springfield, 48 finalists were chosen, and a second panel of judges selected three top place winners in each category. The top six young environmentalists will each receive a $50 U.S. Savings Bond, and a specially inscribed environmental book for their school libraries, and all finalists will receive certificates and ribbons.

The youngsters, their families and teachers have been invited to the reception. Following the awards, the winning entries will remain on display at the State Museum through April 30 and the entrants and their winning creations will be featured on the Illinois EPA's homepage at www.epa.state.il.us

Information about the annual event can be obtained by contacting Janet Hawes-Davis, environmental education coordinator for the IEPA at 1021 North Grand Avenue E., P.O. Box 19276, Springfield, Ill. 62794-9276.

A list of all finalists, their hometowns and schools, follows.

*Top 6 Winners
**Finalist, both categories

Related Information

• Poster, Poetry and Prose Exhibit