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President's Environmental Youth Awards: Apply TODAY!

by
Bill Whorton

As the year comes to a close, things are getting hectic for a lot of teachers and students, but there’s one more thing to consider including in your end-of-year tasks and festivities: the President’s Environmental Youth Award, sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The PEYA program is designed to promote awareness of our nation’s natural resources and encourages positive community involvement among the nation’s youth. The program, in place since 1971, recognizes young people across the U.S. for protecting our nation’s air, water, land, and ecology each year. There are two parts to the program: regional certificate and regional award.

While the regional certificate program accepts projects on a rolling basis year-round, the deadline for the regional award program is Dec. 31. Don’t let the rapidly approaching deadline discourage you from applying though – there is still plenty of time if your project is already in place! Encourage your students to look at the eligibility requirements and application to see if they might have a chance at being a winner!

One exemplary project from each region in the country is selected for national recognition. The projects are developed by young individuals, school classes (K-12), summer camps, and youth organizations to promote environmental stewardship. Winning projects in the past have covered a wide range of subject areas, including:

  • environmental science projects,
  • recycling programs in schools and communities,
  • construction of nature preserves,
  • major tree planting programs, and
  • videos, skits, and newsletters that focused on environmental issues.

In the past, winners have had the opportunity to take a trip to Washington, D.C., tour the White House, meet the EPA Administrator and in some cases, even meet the President of the United States. This year, there may be a more regionally based trip, but regardless, the winning projects will receive national recognition and a presidential plaque for their projects.

Each student or group of students presenting their project must be sponsored by an adult, who may be a parent, teacher, or adviser among others. Help the environmental youths in your life gain national recognition for all the hard work they do! Get those applications in by Dec. 31 and you never know – your students could be PEYA winners!

If you miss the deadline for the awards competition, don’t forget that you can submit your application for the recognition program at any time! Other youth programs can also be found on the EPA’s website.