Loudoun Environmental Education Alliance Announces Showcase Winners | Education

The Loudoun Environmental Education Alliance held its fifth annual Student Environmental Action Showcase at the Academies of Loudoun, where 60 environmentally themed student created exhibitions were displayed.  

The program put a spotlight on student efforts to contribute to environmental stewardship in the county. 

For grades K-5, the first-place winner was Dhairya Jindal, of Cardinal Ridge Elementary School for “Crayon Stars.” Second-place winner was Jennifer Pitzens’ fifth grade class at Cardinal Ridge Elementary School for “How to Recycle at Your School.” Third place was homeschooler Aleksandr Struts for “Remote Control Trash-Eating Boat.”

Kelly Anderson of Seneca Ridge Middle School’s Garden Club won first place in the sixth through eighth grade category for their “Table to Garden Compositing” project. Second place was Pranamya Jindal, of Mercer Middle School, for “EcoSlice: A Pizza Box Recycling Initiative.” Third place went to Gabriel Vlachopoulos, of Smart’s Mill Middle School, for “Plastics in the Ocean.”

The top winners in the ninth through 12th grade category were Akhilesh Tammana and Leila Ware, of the Academies of Loudoun, for “Investigating the Use of Pyrolyzed Sewage Sludge and Mushrooms as an Effective Additive to Develop Feasible Sustainable Concretes.” Second place winner was Broad Run High School’s Arjun Rajesh of OzonePlus.” Third place was a tie between “Superworm Composting,” by Olivia Cohn, of Tuscarora High School, and Katarina Walordy, Maadhavan Iyer, and Mireille Strittmatter, of the Academies of Loudoun, for “MicroMission.”

First place winners received $500, second place $350 and third place $150.

The $300 Innovation in Action Award was given to “The Weight of Our Advance” by Madeline Binkley, of Independence High School. 

Loudoun SEAS was co-hosted by The Academies of Loudoun, Loudoun County Public Schools, the Loudoun Environmental Education Alliance, and the Northwest Virginia Regional GREENetwork. The event was sponsored by generous donations from CMTA, Inc., Keep Loudoun Beautiful, and the Lucketts Ruritan Club.