Bloomington Environmental Commission Announces Winners of Fifth Annual Eco-Heroes Contest

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 2, 2016

For more information contact:

Linda Thompson, Senior Environmental Planner, 812-349-3533 or thompsol@bloomington.in.gov

Bloomington Environmental Commission Announces Winners of Fifth Annual Eco- Heroes Contest

Bloomington, Ind. - The City of Bloomington Environmental Commission is pleased to announce the winners of the fifth annual Eco-Heroes Contest for youth in our community. The Eco-Heroes Contest seeks to connect the natural curiosity of local students and the passion for the world around them through their creativity as artists, writers, and craftspeople. Mayor John Hamilton presented each winner with a certificate and a prize.

The theme of the 2016 Eco-Heroes Contest was "Celebrating Earth's Variety of Life." Students were encouraged to express the importance of environmental biodiversity to our community and the world. This year's contest was a great success with 85 outstanding entries, which represented the work of over 190 students. These diverse entries include drawings, sculptures, poems, graphic designs, a quilt pattern, and more.

The winners of each age group are as follows:

K-2

1st place: Marisa Schmidt - Summit Elementary 2nd place: Allison Fisher - Rogers Elementary

3rd place: Maxwell Castrogiovanni - Rogers Elementary 3rd place: Merlyn Rojas - Rogers Elementary

3-5

1st place: Clear Creek Elementary 5th Grade Classes 2nd place: Julia Fensel- University Elementary

3rd place: Maria Anferova- University Elementary

6-8

1st place: Harmony School 5th-6th Grade Class

2nd place: Nikhil Patel, Kaysan Ruwayti, Ravi Wijayanto- University Elementary 3rd place: Mrs. Monroe's Class- Templeton Elementary

9-12

1st place: Brandon Knight- Academy of Science and Entrepreneurship 2nd place: Yousuf Naderpoor - Bloomington High School South

3rd place: Mahala Mundy- Academy of Science and Entrepreneurship

Winning students and their families were invited to an awards ceremony that was held on Saturday, April 23rd in the Council Chambers of Showers City Hall. Environmental Commissioner Dedaimia Whitney recognized the hard work of all of the students who participated in the Eco-Heroes Contest.

###

The following local business provided generous donations for prizes: Worldwide Automotive Service, Fields Environmental, Laughing Planet, Soma, Nick's English Hut, Oliver Winery, Bloomington Valley Nursery, Global Gifts, Aver's Pizza, Eco Logic, IU Credit Union, Finetune, Civil Streets Bloomington, Wonderlab, T.I.S., Best Buy, Hartzell's Ice Cream, Indiana Geological Survey, Diana Jung, and Erin Flesser.

For more information, please contact Senior Environmental Planner Linda Thompson at thompsol@bloomington.in.gov or 812-349-3423.