YES! Receives the 2013 Environmental Initiative Award for Environmental Education

Last night we were honored to be invited to attend the Minnesota Environmental Initiative Awards as a finalist in the Environmental Education category.  These awards are an annual celebration of the individuals, organizations, businesses, and communities who have worked together to create a better environment for all Minnesotans.  The evening included a reception, dinner, and awards program to honor the fifteen finalist projects from across the state.

We had a great time and we were excited when our name was called as the winner for the Environmental Education category!  Cheryl Glaeser of Southwest Initiative Foundation and Kimberly Colgan, a YES! student from St. Cloud Apollo, said a few words to help us accept the award.

All in all it was a great night!  We’d like to thank Jason Tidemann from the Minnesota DNR for nominating us and for all of the great comments and wonderful support we received at the banquet.  The Environmental Initiative did a great job of putting on a wonderful event!

YES! Announces 2012-2013 Award Winners!

One You, Many Connections YES! 2012-2013

YES! awards were presented within each cohort. Unless otherwise noted, Grand Prize winners received $1,000; Second Place winners received $750; Third Place winners received $500; and all Category Award winners received $250 each.

See what each team accomplished by reading more on the Teams page.

 

Grand Prize

• Westbrook-Walnut Grove
• Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City
• Royalton

2nd Place

• Sleepy Eye
• New London-Spicer
• Tie: St. Cloud Apollo/Rocori ($625 each)

3rd Place

• Mankato West
• Litchfield

 

Category Awards

Energy Efficiency & Conservation

For achieving great energy-related outcomes this season, and outlining the energy saved or to be saved in the future due to their work:

• Mankato West
• Lac qui Parle Valley
• Kennedy Community (St. Joseph)

Creativity & Innovation

For showing a new way of addressing challenges or using a new innovative technology or process to achieve their project goals:

• Glencoe-Silver Lake
• Lac qui Parle Valley
• New York Mills

Community Involvement

Demonstrated a high level of community outreach and involvement in their work:

• Westbrook-Walnut Grove
• Litchfield
• Rocori

Big Bang

Team with the most dramatic and effective impact in their community with a quick, high-hitting community involvement event or project:

• Sleepy Eye
• Eden Valley-Watkins
• Royalton

 

A special THANK YOU to this year’s award sponsors:

                         

             

Happy Earth Day!

We hope everyone has found a way to celebrate the 43rd annual Earth Day!  Here are how some of our teams are celebrating the day in their schools and communities:

• GFW:  The GFW YES! team is kicking off their Earth Week on Earth Day and will spend the week implementing environmental activities for students in all three of the school buildings in their district.
• Rocori:  The Rocori YES! team participated in the Earth Day Expo at St. Cloud State University
  

  The Rocori YES! team collected used sneakers to be reused and recycled through the GreenSneakers Program.

  where they collected used sneakers for the GreenSneakers Eco Challenge.  They have also been collecting sneakers from members of their school and community and will continue to do so until the end of the day today.

• Sleepy Eye:  The Sleepy Eye YES! team is putting on Earth Week activities, which will emphasize educating students in grades 7-12.
• Springfield:  The Springfield YES! Team members wanted to bring attention to the amount of energy that is used during the school day.  They decided to ask teachers to turn off their lights during one class period on Earth Day.  Students will be encouraged to wear black to school today, bringing attention to their project.  The first 90 students to arrive at school in black on Black Out Day will receive a YES! water bottle with an energy message inside.  The students will then calculate how much energy was saved during the Black Out.

 

Spring Judging 2013

As we start to wrap up the 2012-2013 YES! season, we want to congratulate each of our YES! teams on their amazing work this school year.  As part of the YES! Program, we offer spring judging at the end of each school year to highlight teams’ work and celebrate their successes.

A panel of judges selects a recipient team for each of these following awards based on the teams’ Energy Action Projects. Teams are judged within their cohort and teams in each cohort will be awarded first, second and third place overall prizes. In addition, four teams in each cohort will be awarded a category prize for their demonstration of excellence in the respective category.  This year the awards are:

• First Place $1,000
• Second Place $750
• Third Place $500
• Community Involvement Award $250
• Energy Conservation & Efficiency Award $250
• Creativity & Innovation Award $250
• Big Bang Award (the most dramatic and effective impact in their community with a quick, high-hitting community involvement event or project) $250

Judging will take place on three separate dates for the three cohorts:

• Monday, April 29th for the West-Central cohort
• Tuesday, April 30th for the Southern cohort
• Thursday, May 2nd for the Northern cohort

 

If you are interested in participating as a judge, please contact us at sayyes@youthenergysummit.org.

 

Mankato West team in the news

Representative Tim Walz visited Mankato West High School recently to talk about energy and the environment. He also got to hear from some YES! students about the great work they are doing to eradicate polystyrene trays from their school cafeteria.  The Mankato West YES! students have calculated that their school is currently throwing away around 135,000 trays per school year!  Come May, all of those polystyrene trays will be replaced with washable, reusable trays.

Hear what Rep. Walz has to say about the Mankato West YES! team here:
http://www.keyc.tv/story/21874834/tim-walz-visits-mankato-west-high-school

And, read what the Mankato Free Press has to say about Rep. Walz’s visit to Mankato West High School here: http://mankatofreepress.com/local/x2055657060/Walz-talks-energy-politics-at-West-classroom

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