Contact: Linda Topoleski, 412-281-2345 Team Phone: 915-942-0121

WASHINGTON, D.C.—April 23, 2002—A team of four Robert E. Lee Junior High School students from San Angelo, TX, today became one of just 10 teams in the nation to be named finalists in the Bayer/National Science Foundation Award, a cutting-edge program that challenges middle school students to use science and technology to make their community a better place to live.

Seventh grade students Rachel Preston, Jennifer Calcavecchia, Madolyn Mertz and Sara Baggett wanted to make a difference in the community and met with San Angelo Nature Center Director Rod Dearth to figure out how. That meeting led to a five-part program known as "Project Red Arroyo," to improve the local environment and ultimately the health of the area’s drinking water supply which comes from the Concho River.

The program involves public awareness and education about reducing pollution in and around area streams and rivers, an ‘Adopt-a-Spot’/Red Arroyo clean-up campaign, construction of a rock pile and chicken wire filtering system, and a master plan for long-term environmental management of the watershed. The group already has attracted the support of area environmental groups, firefighters and Boy Scouts. They hope to launch the program full scale as its entry in the Bayer/NSF Award, where they’ll vie for the $25,000 Columbus Foundation Community Grant.

The students began developing their entry last fall. They conducted research and worked with community leaders and other mentors to develop and test their solutions, then submitted an entry comprised of written and visual components. A national panel of judges selected their proposal as one of the top 10 from among more than 600 entries submitted nationwide. Nearly 2,500 students participated.

Teams to Compete for $25,000 Grant, Savings Bonds at Walt Disney World^®

As finalists, each team and their coach have won an all-expenses-paid trip to the Walt Disney World^® Resort from June 14-21, where they will compete in the Bayer/NSF Award’s National Championship. The first-, second- and third-place teams will receive up to $20,000, $12,000 and $4,000 in savings bonds, respectively. One finalist team will win the $25,000 Columbus Foundation Community Grant, seed money to help bring the team’s idea to life in the community.

While in Orlando, the students will present their projects to a prestigious panel of national judges and attend the Christopher Columbus Academy, a custom-designed educational experience that explores the science and technology of the theme park as well as the Space Shuttle at the Kennedy Space Center.

The 2002 Bayer/NSF Award National Championship judging panel includes: Renee Wilkerson Anderson, Teacher, Grant High School; Steve Culbertson, CEO, Youth Service America; Greg Hale, Vice President Design & Engineering and Regulatory Compliance, Walt Disney Company; Dr. William Warren, CEO, SCIPERO,Inc.; Dr. James Youniss, Life Cycle Institute, Catholic University.

Other finalists include: "Stopping Carts," from Brandon, MS; "Quiet Car Alarms," from San Diego, CA; "Baby Beepers for Cars," from Las Vegas, NV; "Going Buggy for Amish Roadway Safety," from Sullivan, OH; "Pendulum Braking System for Wheelchairs," from North Wales, PA; "Ladder Maniacs," from Summerville, SC; "Plateau Preservation," from Crossville, TN; "Comfort Quest," from Manassas, VA; and "Milfoil Master," from Minocqua, WI.

Sponsored by Bayer Corporation as part of its Making Science Make Sense program, the National Science Foundation, and the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation, the Bayer/NSF Award was created after studies revealed that middle school is the stage where U.S. students fall behind their peers around the world in science achievement.

Now in its sixth year, the program is endorsed by the National Middle School Association and incorporates many of the recommendations of the National Science Education Standards, emphasizing teamwork, inquiry and real-world settings to attract students to science, technology and community service.