Students from Daniel Boone High School’s Physics class visited the Capitol the week of Feb. 2 and set up their award-winning projects for examination by legislators and Capitol visitors. Just as they did last year, the team won the Lexus Eco Air & Climate Challenge this year. Reuse, recycle, and reduce-behold, the three Rs that guided a project from the team called First Class Biogas and teacher advisors Sid Harwood and Shannon Helzer. They constructed a “biogas digester system” to reuse organic waste (lunchroom food scraps, cow manure from a local farm), are reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the process, and worked to tell their school (and greater district) all about it.
These students are the only Pennsylvania team to ever win the challenge, and the only team to win two years in a row. The team will be awarded $10,000 and they will also have the chance to win an even bigger prize of up to $30,000.
Through the Lexus Eco Challenge, more than 26,000 middle and high school students have earned over $4.5 million for themselves, their teachers, and their schools. This is the eighth year of the competition and 500,000 in grants and scholarships will be awarded in total.
The website is lexus.scholastic.com.
