The Air & Waste Management Association’s (A&WMA) 2009 High School Essay Contest, “Driving Environmental Progress: What Can Students Do?” gives students nationwide in grades 9-12 the chance to share their thoughts on environmental issues and to win great prizes. In line with the Association's focus on taking an active role in the global conversation on the environment, this paper is due on Earth Day April 22, 2009.

 Calling All High School Students! 

Students in grades 9^th – 12^th attending a public, private, parochial school, or home school are eligible for this contest. Younger students may participate as 9^th graders. This contest is conducted without regard to race, religion, sex, or national origin.

 Scoop on the Essay

The essay should describe the role that students can play in driving environmental progress, and may be up to six pages, including the title page, an abstract, the text, and references.

Submit Your Essay Now!

 Essays must be submitted to Sandi Spratt by e-mail at sspratt@awma.org on or before Wednesday, April 22, 2009       

What Are the Prizes?

The author of the best paper(s) will receive $400 and a certificate. Awards will be announced during the Student Awards Ceremony on Thursday, June 18, at A&WMA’s 102nd Annual Conference and Exhibition in Detroit, MI. There is no obligation to attend the award ceremony. Certificates of participation will be mailed to all participants in July 2009. An excerpt from the winning essay will be published in A&WMA’s monthly magazine, EM.

For more information, contact Sandi Spratt at sspratt@awma.org or 412-904-6007.

Click here for contest rules.

Teachers, Educators, and Students Join us in helping our environment.

This page includes downloadable packets to make your job easy!

• Air Quality: Particulate Matter-"Consider the Source" - An Air Quality lesson for Grades 3-5 - Students learn about natural and human-generated sources of the criteria pollutants.
• Air Quality: Particulate Matter-"A Bird's Eye View" - An Air Quality lesson for Grades K-2 - Students construct a "flying bird" to learn about air pollution.
• Air Quality: Ozone-"Ozone-"The Good (Ozone), The Bad (Ozone), and The Ugly (Smog)" -An Air Quality lesson for Grades 3-5-Students will build an earth using modeling clay to learn about ozone.