Atlanta Students Win National Recognition for Environmental Action

ATLANTA, GA--(Marketwire - April 14, 2008) - A team of five students from The Westminster Schools in Atlanta, Georgia, will be celebrating this Earth Day. Not only have they done their part to protect the planet, they've also emerged as one of only 14 first place teams throughout the country who have each won $50,000 in the Lexus Environmental Challenge, a national competition designed by Lexus and Scholastic to educate and empower teens to think big about possible solutions that could make a significant positive impact on the environment.

The Westminster Schools will receive a grant for $10,000, the teacher advisor will get a $5,000 grant, and the students will share $35,000 in scholarships. Throughout the seven-month-long environmental education program and contest, more than $1 million in grants and scholarships have been awarded

"When we introduced this challenge, we really had no idea what kind of programs the students would dream up," said Mark Templin, Lexus group vice president and general manager. "Well, now we know they're not afraid to dream big, and act on those dreams. We were amazed at all the teams' innovative ideas, their ingenuity and their pure passion for the topics they chose to address. It's exciting to see these young people discover their voices and learn they have the power to make a difference."

The five students who comprised the Westminster Schools' team "Campus Conservation Corps -- CCC3," focused their Final Challenge efforts on three Rs: Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling. Their goals were to raise the awareness of the three Rs on and off campus, significantly increase the amount of materials recycled at the school, expand the number of recycling programs, and increase the accessibility of the recycling bins on the school's campus.

To increase awareness and eliminate recycling excuses, the team implemented the "Go A.P.E. for Recycling" plan to create Awareness, increase Participation and Eliminate excuses. According to the team's teacher advisor, Chris Harrow, "The Lexus Environmental Challenge was very motivating to Westminsters' Campus Conservation Corps (CCC) this year. We had a very small core of 5-6 committed students at the beginning of the year. The Challenge helped to more than quadruple the number of very active CCC members by helping us educate ourselves through projects specifically aimed at different aspects of sustainability while offering modest prize money for each stage."

The final winners were selected from 55 teams that qualified for this Final Challenge by winning in one or more of the four previous Challenges that were held from September to February. These initial Challenges, addressing land, air, water and climate, asked teams to take a stand for the environment in their local community and winning teams in these categories each won $3,000. The Final Challenge required teams to reach beyond the local community and inspire environmental action around the world through innovative ideas that were communicated to a wide audience.

"While we were fortunate enough to win in all four of the preliminary rounds, our story goes deeper than that. The monies awarded to the students at each of those stages belonged to the students free-and-clear," Harrow continued. "However because the members of our CCC wanted to make an enduring and visible change on our campus as a result of what they had learned through their efforts, every Westminster student in every stage donated his or her check back to the CCC so that the group could make a collective environmental purchase for Westminster. The only money any CCC student is keeping is the amount won in the form of college scholarships in the final stage."

The Lexus Environmental Challenge is part of The Lexus Pursuit of Potential, a philanthropic initiative that generates $3 million in donations each year for organizations that help build, shape and improve children's lives. The Lexus Environmental Challenge will enter its second year in fall 2008. Teachers and students are encouraged to visit www.scholastic.com/lexus to view all the winning entries and to learn how they can take part in next year's program.

Contact Information: Media Contact: Sandra Levy (562) 391-1516