Or: Team Coach Irene McMullen, 440-729-0457

AUBURN, NY —April 29, 2004 —Bright ideas, solid research and teamwork won four students from Hawken School in Lyndhurst, OH, a berth as finalists in the Christopher Columbus Awards, a nationwide program that challenges middle-school students to explore opportunities for positive change in their communities. Eighth-graders Karoline McMullen, Angela Primbas and Amanda Weatherhead, and their coach, parent Irene McMullen, had made it to the semifinals earlier this month and now are one of eight teams in the country to compete for the grand prize.

Concerned that a 12,000-year-old population of brook trout was endangered due to toxic runoff in the watershed, these students developed a plan to educate area residents about the consequences of their daily actions and to motivate them to change. The students met with local hatcheries, the Chagrin River Land Conservancy, the Geauga Soil and Water District, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and other experts to determine the main threats to the health of area waterways. The culprits: lawn fertilizers and pesticides, and also paints, motor oils, antifreeze and other chemicals that area residents inappropriately dispose of in storm sewers which drain into area creeks. The majority of residents the students surveyed were unaware that the storm sewers drained into creeks and most were not aware of the fragile brook troutís existence.

"The brook trout has been in this area since the time of the glaciers," the students said. "We felt that we needed to take action now to educate area residents in order to save this species from extinction."

As part of their education campaign, the students asked area residents to sign pledges to reduce point source pollution in their yards and neighborhoods, primarily from lawn fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals. After a survey indicated that area residents were pouring excess chemicals, paints and other toxics into area storm drains which lead to area waterways, the students tacked warning stickers on the drains alerting residents not to use the sewers as a dumping source. In addition, they educated residents about developing riparian buffer zones in their yards to contain the impact of fertilizers and other yard chemicals.

A panel of community leaders, scientists and experts in science education judged this idea as one of the top eight entries in the U.S. Over 1,200 students participated nationwide.

The Christopher Columbus Awards challenge teams of middle-school students to explore and discover opportunities for positive change in their communities using science and technology. The program is now in its eighth year and has attracted more than 14,000 students from diverse backgrounds all across the U.S. The program is sponsored by the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation with support from the National Science Foundation and it is endorsed by the National Middle School Association. Past winners have included a group of Native American girls who built a study hall out of straw on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana, and a group of students from Pennsylvania who developed a video/motion sensor device for school buses that deters motorists from trying to pass illegally.

The program attracts many students who may not typically enter a science competition. More than half of the entrants are girls, and more than a fourth are from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, statistics that are higher than those of most science competitions. The Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation believes the teamwork aspect and community focus draw a broader range of students to enter.

###