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 JIMINY CRICKET SURPRISES 5TH GRADE CLASS
AT EL VERANO ELEMENTARY SONOMA, CA, April 7, 2003 — What do 30 elementary students from El Verano Elementary School in Sonoma County, creek clean-ups and a favorite cartoon character have in common? A Grand Prize winning project in Disney's Environmentality Challenge. This statewide competition is designed to promote "environmentality" - thinking and acting environmentally - among elementary school students. Teacher David Neubacher and his class of fifth graders from El Verano Elementary today received top honors for their environmental efforts during a surprise visit by Jiminy Cricket, John Hayashi, State Board President of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, and Kris McNamara, Director of Corporate Environmental Programs and Policy - The Walt Disney Company. The El Verano Elementary students were among 95,600 students from almost 3,200 classes who participated in this year's Environmentality Challenge. The class impressed judges with its environmental education project, "Protectors of the Earth." As part of this project, the class developed a single-stream recycling program at their school that is managed by all El Verano 5th grade students. They also collaborated with expert scientists to research deformed frogs from local creeks. In addition, the class conducted an extensive letter writing campaign urging elected officials to protect the Van Hoosear Preserve. Finally, the class conducted monthly local creek clean-up and water-testing efforts and organized an assembly to educate other students about waste management. For their efforts, the students will receive a "Jiminy" award May 22 at a special celebration in their honor at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. Presenting the award will be Roy E. Disney, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors for The Walt Disney Company, and Jack O'Connell, State Superintendent of Public Instruction. This is an unprecedented third Grand Prize win for El Verano teacher David Neubacher. In 1996 and 1997, Neubacher's classes impressed judges with back-to-back Grand Prize honors. The Environmentality Challenge, first launched in 1994, is a partnership between The Walt Disney Company and the State of California's Environmental Education Interagency Network (CEEIN). CEEIN includes representatives from the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Integrated Waste Management Board, as well as the Department of Education, the Department of Food and Agriculture, the State and Consumer Services Agency, the Resources Agency, and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The Environmentality Challenge encourages students to develop action projects that target real-world environmental challenges. To date, more than 534,000 children have participated in the Challenge. Teachers interested in this program can request educational materials from CEEIN to develop environmentally related curricula using the four California Content Standards. CONTACT: Tricia Broddrick, Assistant Director Office of Integrated Environmental Education California Integrated Waste Management Board (916) 341-6769 Janice Sindoni Supervisor, Environmental Relations Corporate Environmental Policy The Walt Disney Company (818) 553-7256 |