From New York to Hawaii, students demonstrated their commitment to the planet with programs aimed at protecting land and water. Each winning team has earned $10,000 in scholarships and grants to be shared among the students, teacher and school. Their win has also secured each team an invitation to participate in the Final Challenge for a chance at one of two $30,000 grand prizes and 14 $15,000 first-place awards.
“With more than 170 entries in the Lexus Eco Challenge #1, it’s clear that the program is achieving its goal of inspiring and empowering teens to learn about the environment and take action to improve it,” said Mark Templin, Lexus group vice president and general manager. “This first round of entries showed innovation, creativity and a commitment to making a positive impact. We can learn a lot from these young people.”
For each of the challenges, teams are required to define an environmental issue that is important to them, develop an action plan to address the issue, implement the plan, and report on the results. The Challenge #1 winning teams that best addressed environmental challenges associated with land and water were:
High School Teams:
- California (Vista) – “Guajome Girls Preservation Foundation” – Guajome Park Academy – Led a massive cleanup effort at the two-mile corridor that protects the wetlands ecosystem near their school. Over a month’s time, the members and various groups of volunteers recycled 1,500 pounds of trash on their school’s campus, preventing it from littering the corridor.
- Florida (Newberry) – “P.A.N.T.H.E.R. – Providing a New Way to Help Environmental Restoration” – Newberry High School - Zeroed in on deforestation and forest destruction. Hosted a tree photography contest, delivered public service announcements, planted more than 600 trees, and distributed more than 1,300 seedlings at their local harvest festival.
- Hawaii (Honolulu) – “P.O.W.E.R. - Protecting Our Water and Environmental Resources” – Farrington High School - Focused on water pollution, specifically marine debris and dumping. Developed a number of presentations for nearby middle schools and partnered with local organizations to assist in local stream and bay cleanup projects.
- Kentucky (Stanville) – “EeK-o Addicts” – Betsy Lane High School - Took on public awareness of land and water pollution as well as pollution prevention methods. School-wide trash collecting project yielded nearly 100 aluminum cans, more than 200 bottles, and five full bags of paper.
- Missouri (Kingdom City) – “North Callaway Digital Outreach Program” – North Callaway High School -Targeted recycling and electronics waste. Organized a collection drive and gathered nearly three tons of used electronics from the community for recycling.
- Missouri (St. Louis) – “Team ECH2O” – Parkway North High School - Focused on informing the community about water conservation in general and water-saving techniques. Worked in the school rain garden, installed water-saving devices in the school, and penned articles for local media outlets about conservation.
- New York (Farmingdale) – “Restoration and Preservation” – Farmingdale High School - Embarked on an extensive monitoring and preservation project to help bring their local parklands to a healthy, stable condition. Built a relationship with nearby elementary schools to spread the word about the project, and secured grants to help continue their research.
- New York (LaGrangeville) – “En-Viro-Forcers” – Arlington High School – Researched and addressed the local area’s lack of awareness regarding the threatened Blanding’s Turtles. Conducted research at their wetlands, held presentations at nearby middle schools, posted a Facebook page, and organized a Turtle Awareness Day.
