Keep Pennsylvania beautiful Announces Litter Hawk Youth Award Program Winners
Keep Pennsylvania beautiful Announces Litter Hawk Youth Award Program Winners
Paisun Wilt from Perry County earned first place for Grade 2.
(March 17, 2022) Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful thanks all Pennsylvania youth who participated in the 2022 Litter Hawk Youth Award Program. The program provides a way for students in Kindergarten through Grade 6 to express their concerns about litter through art, words or video. Each participant completed a designated project specific to their grade level addressing the theme: How do you keep Pennsylvania beautiful?
Judges were excited to see so many thoughtful submissions illustrating positive change towards reducing the amount of trash found in our parks, school grounds and along our roadways.
Two entries were awarded in each grade level. First place winners received a $25 gift card. First runners-up received a $15 gift card. For their stories, visit Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/keeppabeautiful/.
First Place Winners:
- Bailee Pliska, Kindergarten (poster), Westmoreland County
- Kylie Blakeslee, Grade 1 (poster), Tioga County
- Paisun Wilt, Grade 2 (poster), Perry County
- Zaniel Lowman, Grade 3 (poster), Westmoreland County
- Likhit Nagh Boni, Grade 4 (poster), Chester County
- Damian Stiffey, Grade 5 (essay), Cambria County
- Guilianna De Maio, Grade 6 (video), Pike County
Runners-Up Winners:
- Chase Garnett, Kindergarten (poster), Cumberland County
- Luke Goeckel, Grade 1 (poster), Perry County
- Kyleigh Llacas, Grade 2 (poster), Brandywine Wallace Elementary, Chester County*
- Izabelle Fackler, Grade 3 (poster), Cumberland County
- Emmelee Campbell, Niang Lun, and Janiya, Herrera Grade 4 (poster), Fritz Elementary, Lancaster County*
- Amber Drozdis, Grade 5 (video – tie), Lackawanna County
- Andrew Haas, Grade 5 (video – tie), Philadelphia County
- Leonora Orellana Antón, Grade 6 (video), Wayne County
* Pennsylvania students could participate individually or as part of a lesson initiated by schools, environmental clubs or other organized groups. Brandywine Wallace Elementary in Chester County, Lyall J. Fink Elementary in Dauphin County, The Grayson School, Delaware County, Middle Paxton Elementary School in Dauphin County, Wilmington Area Elementary in Lawrence County and Fritz Elementary in Lancaster County participated at the classroom level.
“Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful wants to thank all the students who participated in our Litter Hawk Youth Award program this year. It’s humbling to see and hear what Pennsylvania youth think about keeping our neighborhoods clean and beautiful. Engaging youth in protecting the environment creates a direct impact on changing behaviors and attitudes and kids have a knack for influencing their friends and families,” said Shannon Reiter, President of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful. “Congratulations to this year’s Litter Hawks! We hope to see everyone back again next year.”
The Litter Hawk Youth Award program is offered annually and was created with funding provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The winning gift cards were sponsored in part by Walmart, Greensburg and Delmont locations.
For more information, visit https://www.keeppabeautiful.org/grants-awards/awards/litter-hawk/. Additional questions can be answered by Kylie McCutcheon at kmccutcheon@keeppabeautiful.org or 877-772-3673 ext. 114
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About Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful
Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s vision is a clean and beautiful Pennsylvania. Since 1990, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful has worked with hundreds of thousands of volunteers across the state to pick up nearly 152 million pounds of trash from Pennsylvania’s roadways, waterways, greenways, vacant lots, forestlands and other community spaces. Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s core programming focuses on litter and illegal dump prevention, cleanup, community greening, and proper waste handling and sustainable practices. Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful works with many partnering organizations on the state and grassroots level to accomplish our goal of a clean and beautiful Pennsylvania. Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful is the state affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, Inc., the nation’s largest volunteer-based community action and education organization. To learn more about Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, visit www.keeppabeautiful.org.
