Julia Jester, a St. Michaels High School (SMHS) senior, was surprised at this morning’s school awards assembly to learn that she had been awarded the annual Hannah Prize for creative thinking on environmental issues.
The Hannah Prize was created in 2013 by St. Michaels resident Ann Hymes to celebrate her daughter Hannah’s unbounded energy, creativity, and desire to save and cherish the environment. The competition is open only to current students at St. Michaels High School.
“If you had $5,000, how would you contribute to environmental sustainability, innovation, or climate study?” A panel of judges determined that Jester best answered the question, in less than 1,000 words, with a thoughtful plan that will benefit her school and the community. The two finalists for the prize were Jester and fellow senior Kendall Kiley.
The judges, all enthusiastic environmental stewards, were:
* Hymes, a retired real estate broker who is passionate about sustainable communities and was instrumental in bringing curbside recycling to St. Michaels.
* Briggs Cunningham, Energy Programs Manager for the Center for Environment & Society at Washington College, who is committed to the integration of ecological and social values, and
* Margo Bailey, longtime mayor of Chestertown, MD, who has a keen interest in green technology and finding hands-on solutions to environmental issues.
Jester’s proposal begins with, “Nearly everyone has seen a monarch butterfly at some point in his or her life, but most do not know about their epic journey.” She continues with explanation of the challenges these butterflies encounter as their native habitat is increasingly destroyed. Monarch eggs are laid on milkweed, and the larvae depend on it for sustenance.
Her winning proposal consists of four parts: action, education, outreach, and innovation. Jester will be creating a native milkweed garden and certifying it through Monarch Watch (www.MonarchWatch.org/waystations) on their national registry. The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels has enthusiastically agreed to receive the garden.
Jester plans to buy books and documentaries on butterfly migration for her school library and to encourage student community service hours for working in the garden. The public will be invited to learn of the importance of native milkweed in their home gardens through pamphlets, visiting the waystation, and receiving seeds. A smartphone app will help locate milkweed and protect it by allowing users to take a picture and send it to the app’s data base.
Hymes emphasized that the Hannah Prize is a reward for out-of-the-box thinking about environmental issues, a prize for ideas; it is not a scholarship. How could $5,000 make a difference? For more information, please contact her at: [email protected].
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