News Releases - 2002

Young Environmentalists To Be Honored at Awards Reception

Springfield, Ill. -- An honors reception from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Hilton Springfield on Saturday (May 4) will honor fifth and sixth graders from around Illinois, wrapping up the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency's 15th annual poster/prose competition. Six youngsters will receive U.S. savings bonds, books, ribbons and certificates for submitting winning posters or written works on the importance of "The Air We Breathe."

Named as top entrants in the poster category were Daniel Borup, and David Weisbaum, both students at Countryside School, Champaign; Chelsea Dorsey, Delavan CUSD #703 Elementary School, Delavan; Julie Galloway, St. Lawrence O'Toole School, Steger; Michael Howley, St. Daniel the Prophet School, Chicago, and Sarah Puchalski, St. Christina School, Chicago. Borup and Dorsey entered posters into the event, and Galloway and Howley each submitted a poem. Weisbaum was selected for a prose entry. Puchalski was selected one of the top six winners for her poster entry, and submitted a poem that was one of the finalists.

Following the honors reception, the entries from the six top winners, as well as the top 44 finalists, will be on display through the month of May in the main entrance atrium at the Illinois EPA's Springfield headquarters. The winning entries also will be featured on the Illinois EPA's homepage at www.epa.state.il.us

The Agency's environmental education guide, "Environmental Pathways---Youth Investigating Pollution Issues in Illinois" was introduced during the 2000-2001 school year, replacing earlier versions of the environment-themed classroom segment. The rewritten version meets the standards of the North American Association for Environmental Education Guidelines for Excellence. Each year, after fifth and sixth grade students at participating schools complete the study part of the guide, they are invited to create posters, poems or essays to illustrate what they have learned. Each school then selects entries in both the poster and written categories to represent it in judging in Springfield.

At the reception Saturday, each of the six top winners will be presented with a $50 U.S. Savings Bond, and a specially inscribed environmental book for their school libraries. All finalists will receive certificates and ribbons.

The youngsters, their families and teachers have been invited to the reception. 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 entry categories, and schools, follows.

Related Information

• Statewide Poster, Poetry and Prose Exhibit
• Environmental Pathways