2008 Litter Hawk Award Program
WINNERS!
(Click on any photo to see a bigger picture of it.)

Age Group 10 and Under

Visual Arts Category: By South St. Marys Street Elementary School, Elk County Approximately 650 students, kindergarten through 5th grade from South Saint Marys Street Elementary school, participated in constructing a mural with a recycling message. The students saved scrap paper from their classrooms and during a school-wide assembly, created the likeness of an elk to represent Elk County. The mural, titled "Elk County Recyclers" is on display at the Elk County Council of the Arts. After that, the artwork will be on display at the St. Marys public library. Teacher Donna Cassels states, "This project promoted a sense of unity and cooperation for our school."

Language Arts Category: By Marilla K., 10 years old, Lycoming County "I wrote this because I am concerned about the environment and I want to inform others how bad plastic burning can be." Excerpt from essay: From the smell of fumes to the black horrible smoke that can be seen for miles, burning plastic is extremely dangerous for the whole world. Burning plastic in barrels or woodstoves doesn't reach high enough temperatures to destroy the dangerous chemicals created when plastics are burned. It makes toxic fallout in the yards and surrounding areas. Burned plastic leaves a hazardous ash. It contaminates the soil, the plants that grow in the soil, and the animals that eat the plants. Burning plastic in any form should be banned for the good of everyone now and in the future. We need to act now!

Community Outreach Category: By Jessie B., 10 years old, Chester County "I thought it would be nice for the whole grade to pick up litter around school, so this year we gave the option to stay after school and pick up litter to everyone in our grade. Together we picked up trash and recycling and it was fun! We had about 50 % of the grade participate! We know we made a difference because the township sent us a letter thanking us for doing our part." Jessica pledges to take it one step further next time and plant trees and flowers in the areas that they pick up litter.

Age Group 11 - 18

Visual Arts Category: No Entries Received

Language Arts Category: By Faith E., 14 years old, Perry County "My inspiration for this poem came from the way in which people take care of my lane. I remember, when I was little, taking walks with my family and thinking about how everything was so pretty. We saw animals all the time and flowers on the side of the road. I don't enjoy taking walks as much anymore because where there once was flowers, there are now plastic bags and cans." Return to Harmony The meadow was bright and green The land was so beautiful and clean The rabbits would play Birds sang all day And the deer took rests by the stream This harmony lasted so long Until something went terribly wrong Man forgot their place And destroyed nature's space And the bird lost their wondrous song In 1850 there was a revolution And these industries caused mass pollution The new products lay around All over the ground Lucky for us there is a solution You can use new, different tactics And start recycling their plastics Just lend a hand And pick up that can The results on the Earth are dramatic If we all begin doing your part And at anytime we can start The state we're in now Can be turned around Keeping the Earth clean isn't hard Community Outreach Category: By Ben G., 11 years old, Luzerne County Ben used to take paper home in his backpack to recycle until he spoke in front of the Wilkes-Barre Area School Board and proposed that his school implement a recycling program. When Ben returned for the 2007-2008 school year, he found a pleasant surprise. The school board decided to recycle paper! "I hope this program encourages kids at school to recycle. Recycling is good for the environment because it reuses natural resources," states Ben. There are talks of expanding the recycling program if the paper recycling is a success. Ben's still known for bringing home his and his friends iced tea bottles for proper disposal.

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