April 22, 2012
Happy Earth Day, everyone! Your Earth Day Promises are wonderful. Anyone who reads your writing for the past 22 days on this blog is sure to feel good about the prospects for our environment, and the future of our planet!
The winners were randomly chosen by a true random number generator on the website www.random.org. First we listed all the entries in order of when they were received. Then we used the random number generator to pick the winners from among the hundreds of entries.
The "individual student" winner was actually a pair of students who wrote, so they will each win a personally autographed copy of my book EARTH: OUR PLANET IN SPACE. Those winners are Baylee Y. and Austin P., from Mrs. Stewart’s class at Midway Elementary in Holt, Michigan. Baylee and Austin wrote:
Survival of Polar Bears is threatened by the melting of the Arctic ice because polar bears eat a lot of food and the more the ice melts the less food Polar bears have to eat. Global Warming has been around since 1995 so you should care now, not later. Global Warming doesn’t only affect animals, it also affects humans. Polar bears are threatened by Global Warming.
The second prize goes to the student who uploaded a photograph of his poster, called "Promise Island." This student is a homeschooler from Ohio named Will B., and Will will receive a personally autographed copy of my book BUTTERFLIES. He wrote:
I promise to recycle with my dad. I promise to not run the water when I brush my teeth. And I promise to sleep my computer when I am not using it to save electricity. Thank you.
And finally, I asked classes to write and tell me their Earth Day Promises, and I was so pleased to receive many great entries! The randomly selected winning class entry was one of Mrs. Houck’s second grade library classes at JB Blayton School in Williamsburg, Virginia. When Mrs. Studdard’s class was in the library, they came up with this list:
~ using water bottles that can be reused instead of plastic water bottles.
~ picking up trash that we see outside.
~ plant a tree to help clean up our atmosphere.
These are excellent promises, and for making them, Mrs. Studdard’s class has won a free Skype session. I can’t wait to "meet" you all over Skype!
We had a number of schools whose students entered often, and one school, in particular, posted many more entries than any other. We decided to add one more winner, to recognize the participation by all the students from Mrs. Maggio’s Library Classes at James Fallon School in Wayne, New Jersey.
Ryan A. was the randomly chosen winner from this class, and he will also win a personally autographed copy of EARTH: OUR PLANET IN SPACE. Ryan wrote:
This Earth Day I promise to re-use paper and recycle plastic bottles.
Thank you, again, to everyone who wrote in with your Earth Day Promises. You have made Earth Day 2012 very special, indeed.
Take a moment to reflect on Earth Day today, and what it means to you. If you have a few minutes, go back to April 1 on my blog, and read all the student "promises" which were posted as comments on the stories between April 1 and today. I guarantee you that you will be inspired by the hundreds of commitments to protect and honor our home planet.
Posted by: Seymour Simon
