Corvallis High School Awarded Grant to Further Green Initiatives
BENTONVILLE, Ark., June 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Corvallis High School in Corvallis, Ore. has been named 'America's Most Eco-Friendly School' in the Walmart 'Earth Day Every Day School Challenge.' According to Corvallis High School officials, the school consumes 30 percent less energy than every other school built to the Oregon code, and it hopes to consume even less by one day installing solar panels on the building's roof. Its Green Club spearheads a campaign to encourage students to use carbon-neutral transportation by offering incentives to bike or walk to school. These environmental activities are just a few of the reasons that the school was chosen as the grand prize winner in an online vote by Americans, and will be awarded a $20,000 grant from Walmart to further its environmental efforts.
'Corvallis High School is an excellent example of the impact young Americans can make in creating a greener, healthier planet,' said Matt Kistler, senior vice president of sustainability, Walmart. 'At Walmart, we believe that Earth Day should be every day, and we are honored to assist Corvallis High School in furthering its environmental goals by awarding the school a $20,000 grant as the winner of the Walmart 'Earth Day Every Day School Challenge.'
Corvallis High School was one of the 20 finalist schools selected by three independent judges (teachers and environmental experts) from among 439 qualified essays, which described the efforts made by each school to help make the world a greener place. All finalists who elected to compete for the $20,000 grand prize submitted a short video, showcasing the environmental activities and projects described in their essays. The competing schools' videos and essays were posted at http://www.earthdayeverydaychallenge.com, and from June 9 through June 19, Americans were asked to vote for the school they believed should be awarded the $20,000 grand prize.
During the 10-day voting period, more than 22,000 votes were cast.
