Hawley Second Graders Win EPA Award

By Susan Coney

Hawley second grade teacher Linda Giordano was pleasantly surprised to learn that two of her young students were selected as winners in the Environmental Protection Agency, New England Office 33rd Annual Paul G. Keough Earth Artists Program.

Hundreds of students from all over New England in kindergarten through sixth grade entered the poem and poster contest. Ms Giordano was totally stunned that she had two award winners from her classroom. As a restriction in the contest, teachers may submit no more than two entries per class. Although Ms Giordano knew she had very talented artists in her class, she was amazed that both of her students, Sara Lampel and Nokomis Leaman-Logsdon, had been chosen as winners in the contest. “The entire class was thrilled for their classmates, they were so excited and happy for them,” Ms Giordano said.

All entries were judged by the following criteria: The artwork or poem had to present a clear environmental message to a particular solution to an environmental problem that the child selected. The poster/poem must be creative and innovative. The artwork or literary work must be of outstanding quality for the student’s grade level. Emphasis in this year’s contest was on having participants focus on how our environmental problems should be addressed. The students were asked to create posters and poems suggesting actions that they and others could take to increase awareness and protect the environment. For example, what could we do to keep our air and water clean? Whatever notion they use, no matter how widely used or original, the goal of the contest is to get students thinking about the problem and then providing their solutions. The students were also encouraged to try solutions they came up with.

In recognition of their exceptional job, Sara and Nokomis will be recognized at a ceremony on Wednesday, June 1, at the University of Hartford’s Lincoln Theater. Sara, Nokomis, and their families, along with their teacher, are invited to attend the special ceremony. At the ceremony, the girls will come up on stage and accept a certificate for their hard work, artistic creativity, and interest in protecting the environment. Sara and Nokomis were chosen along with a handful of other winners in their grade and state division, which is quite a distinction.