Edison International Announces Winners of Edison Challenge Environmental Science Competition

Santa Monica High School and Medea Creek Middle School are the first-place winners in the Edison Challenge, an environmental science competition. They were selected from dozens of teams participating in the fourth annual event co-sponsored by Edison International and the University of Southern California.

Sixty-seven student-teacher teams submitted original science projects related to energy and the environment. Hundreds of students, parents and teachers attended the awards ceremony Saturday at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Bill Nye, popularly known as “Bill Nye The Science Guy,” was a special guest speaker and presented winners with certificates.

Stuart Hemphill, Southern California Edison’s (SCE) senior vice president, Power Procurement, congratulated winners and competition participants. Edison International is the parent company of SCE.

“This shows we can play a role in improving the air we breathe and the water we drink. Our hope is that your curiosity will lead you to learn more to help create a healthy, sustainable environment. Thanks for taking steps toward creating a greener future,” he said.

Santa Monica High School’s team took first place for its Teach and Test program, measuring the bacteria levels at three ocean sites every week for the past year and reporting findings to various community members.

Medea Creek Middle School from Oak Park won for its project on “energy vampires” to raise awareness of energy wasted by electrical devices when they appear to be turned off. Students conducted a "trick or treat" before Halloween canvassing the community at dusk dressed as vampires, knocking on doors and delivering brochures with energy-saving tips.

Team members and teachers from both first-place schools will spend a week on Catalina Island in June and participate in various activities at the USC Wrigley Marine Science Center.

Second-place winners in the competition were Oak Park High School in Oak Park and Amargosa Creek Middle School in Lancaster. In May, these teams will spend four days visiting SCE’s Big Creek Hydroelectric Facility in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Other finalists receiving honors and awards were three other teams from Oak Park High School in Oak Park, Gabrielino High School in San Gabriel, and Ventura High School in Ventura.  Eastshore Elementary School in Irvine, Roosevelt Middle School in Compton, Will Rogers Middle School in Lawndale, Hillview Middle School in Whittier and a second team from Medea Creek Middle School also received awards as finalists in the competition.

Teachers from the 11 teams selected as finalists were awarded stipends ranging from $150 to $500, and each received laptop computers for their classrooms. In addition, teachers participating in the Edison Challenge also attended science workshops, which focused on renewables and other energy-related topics.

Edison International partnered with the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies, housed within USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences, to create the Edison Challenge in 2006. The company provided $1 million to fund the program over four years.

Return to May 2010 Western Energy News

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