2016 Team BPCS Clean Green 15: Litter Challenge
Environmental Literacy Recipients Announced
Students, staff, teachers and administrators from a variety of schools and community partners entered the gymnasium of Reisterstown Elementary School, prepared for the big announcement and to learn the facts and figures from the 4th annual Team BCPS Clean Green 15: Litter Challenge. County Executive Kevin Kamenetz and The Education Foundation of Baltimore County Executive Director, Deborah Phelps announced that fourteen Baltimore County public schools were winners in this year’s program that resulted in more than 5,600 volunteers picking up some 3,100 bags of litter in more than 400 litter clean-ups around the County.
The fact and the figures from the 2016 program resulted in 406 clean-ups conducted by 5,602 volunteers. This is an increase from 324 clean-ups conducted by 3,356 volunteers who picked up 3,456 bags of trash last year (2015). This is a 25% increase in clean-ups and a 67% increase in volunteer participation from last year!
In addition to litter, Clean Green 15 volunteers collected many tons of bulk trash items from parks, stream banks, schoolyards and other locations all around Baltimore County. Clean-ups included schoolchildren organized by teachers during the school day as well as community-based activity.
Through this program, BCPS schools and their community supporters conducted quick 15-minute litter clean-ups and competed from last fall through this April to see which school communities could log the most clean-ups. The program is open to any group, including school-based groups, places of worship, youth groups, civic or community groups, scout troops, sport teams, businesses or other organizations that wish to help clean up their community. Groups were asked to report their clean-ups on the BCPS website.
Through the Team BCPS Clean Green 15: Litter Challenge, The Education Foundation of Baltimore County Public Schools awarded grants to the top winning schools to fund school-based 21st Century Instructional Initiative projects emphasizing the 21st Century theme of environmental literacy.
Congratulating the 2016-2107 TEAM BCPS Clean Green 15: Litter Challenge recipients for an amazing job. They are as follows:
| Grand Prize for Most VolunteersGrand Prize for Most Litter Collected
1st Place Elementary School 2nd Place Elementary School 1st Place Middle School 2nd Place Middle School 1st Place High School 2nd Place High School
|
$3,000 Reisterstown Elementary Schools$3,000 Grange Elementary School
$2,000 Westowne Elementary School $1,500 Bear Creek Elementary School $2,000 Holabird Middle School $1,500 Dundalk Middle School $2,000 Western School of Technology and Environmental Science $1,500 Sparrows Point High School
|
Honorable Mentions receiving i-Pads
Colgate Elementary School
Catonsville High School
Stemmers Run Middle School
Chapel Hill Elementary School
Vincent Farm Elementary School
Stoneleigh Elementary School
The TEAM BCPS Clean Green 15: Litter Challenge was a collaborative effort of Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz and Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent, Dr. S. Dallas Dance. With the generous support of our environmental friendly, earth friendly partners we were able to award a total of $17,000 to our school, which is an $8,000 increase from last year. Thank you to the following for their generous giving: Baltimore County Department of Environmental Protection and Sustainability (EPS), BGE, Maryland Environmental Service and Tradepoint Atlantic….Thank YOU!
We will continue working together to keep our school community litter free. We look forward to your participation for the upcoming school year as we now run this challenge year round. Rally your team together and begin logging in your clean-ups from May 1, 2015 through April 30, 2017. It might be your school community next year!