In celebration of Earth Day, Attorney General T.J. Donovan today announced the conclusion of the second annual Earth Day Essay Challenge for Vermont’s 5th and 6th graders. The now annual event began in 2021 with Attorney General Donovan inviting students to submit essays on the environment and Earth Day. This year’s essay challenge began in February and ran through April 8. In response, the Attorney General’s Office received 190 essays from students all over Vermont, more than three times the response the first event generated last spring.
“I’m blown away by the response we received from this year’s Earth Day Essay Challenge,” said Attorney General Donovan. “To receive more than three times as many essays as we did last year really shows us the enthusiasm that young Vermonters have for Vermont’s environment and Earth Day. It is our privilege to hear from Vermont’s future environmental leaders, many of whom are already taking action to help protect our environment and planet. I want to say this to each student who submitted an essay for us to read: Thank you, and we hear you. I encourage everyone to take a minute today and read some of these students’ essays as a way to celebrate Earth Day.”
The essays submitted to the Attorney General’s Office as a part of the Earth Day Essay Challenge are posted on the Office’s website for the public to enjoy. To read the students’ essays, please visit: https://ago.vermont.gov/2022-attorney-generals-earth-day-essay-challenge-student-essays/. Members of the Attorney General’s Environmental Protection Division provided individual feedback to each student who submitted an essay.
The following elementary schools participated in this year’s essay challenge:
Berkshire Elementary School, 5th Grade
B.F.A. Fairfax, 5th Grade
Brighton Elementary School, 5th Grade
Brownington Central School, 5th and 6th Grade
Calais Elementary School, 6th Grade
Crossett Brook Middle School (Waterbury), 5th Grade
Enosburg Elementary School, 5th and 6th Grades
Fayston Elementary School, 6th Grade
Ferrisburgh Central School, 5th Grade
Homeschool (Ryegate), 5th Grade
JFK Elementary School (Winooski), 5th Grade
Mettawee Community School (West Pawlet), 5th Grade
Mater Christi Elementary School (Burlington), 6th Grade
Montessori School of Central Vermont, 5th Grade
Rutland Intermediate School, 5th Grade
Salisbury Community School, 5th Grade
Sustainability Academy at Lawrence Barnes (Burlington), 5th Grade
Troy School, 6th Grade
Vermont Day School (Shelburne), 6th Grade
Waterford Elementary School, 5th Grade
Williston Central School, 5th and 6th Grades
The Attorney General’s Office expects to announce the third annual Earth Day Essay Challenge in early 2023. For more information on the Attorney General’s Office’s environmental work and to keep up to date on the latest activities of the Office, please visit the Office’s website. Information on multi-state environmental actions taken or joined by the Attorney General’s Office since January of 2017 can be found here.
Contact: Charity R. Clark, Chief of Staff, 802-828-3171