Essay Contest: Win a Hybrid Bus for Your School

How green is your school – and how well can you write about it? Kindergarten through 12th graders around the country are being offered a chance to win their school a hybrid school bus from Warrenville, Illinois-based IC Bus through an essay contest that encourages kids to write passionately about their schools’ green efforts.

From USA Today:

“We feel strongly about the fact that every school bus takes 36 cars off the road, about the billions of gallons of gas that it saves per year for every school bus we have on the road,” says IC Bus president John McKinney.

Christian Laskaros, a junior at Half Hollow Hills High School East in Dix Hills, N.Y., entered a few weeks ago. He described how small eco-friendly programs at his school, including a paper recycling program, fliers with energy-saving tips in classrooms and ceiling lights with timers, add up to make a big difference.

“I really hope (the judges) grasp the entire gist of the essay, how you can see nothing being eco-friendly one day, and the next day you’re looking at the bus you’re riding on in the city and how eco-friendly it actually is,” Laskaros says. “And you look at your water bottle, something so small, and realize how much damage it can do.”

The contest is open until April 30th. Students can enter their 500-word essays at AmericasGreenestSchool.com, a website that also offers tips for making their schools more eco-friendly. Ten finalists, chosen by IC Bus’s president and Terra Wellington, author of The Mom’s Guide to Growing Your Family Green: Saving the Earth Begins at Home, will be posted on the website May 11th-17th. The public will then choose the winner, who will receive a $5,000 scholarship as well as getting the hybrid bus for their school.

If you know a student who’s got the passion and the writing chops to tackle this contest, send them to AmericasGreenestSchool.com to learn more. It’s a great opportunity to not only give a deserving school a valuable gift but to excite students about going green.

Link [USA Today]

Related Posts:

Brighter Planet and 1Sky Launch Climate Video Contest
Get Trees for Your City Using Your American Express Card
Vote for Dorothee to be the Next Green ‘It’ Girl!
Get FREE Tickets to the Green Festival!
Figs & Ginger Earth Day Giveaway