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Photo Information

(From left to right) Holly Todd, Evelyn St. John, Brett St. John, Natalie Whatley, Trinity Wolfe and Julia Morgan present their award-winning posters during the annual Earth Day poster contest awards presentation at Elliott Elementary School, April 25. The contest aimed to teach kids more about their environment and with a theme of "Make every day, Earth Day," the top artists were rewarded with a certificate, medal and a gift card to the Marine Corps Exchange.

Photo by Sgt. Marcy Sanchez

A picture is worth thousand words

3 May 2013 | Sgt. Marcy Sanchez Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort

Thirty students aboard Laurel Bay schools were rewarded for their week-long Earth Day efforts during an awards presentation to recognize the winners of a poster contest depicting how they "make every day, Earth Day," as the theme of the project suggested, at Laurel Bay schools, April 25.

Earth Day was founded as an environmental teach-in first held on April 22, 1970. Since then, more and more patrons for a greener tomorrow have demonstrated their respect for the environment through planting, cleaning, and informing others of
the importance of our environment.

"Things we do to our environment today can cause harm to others tomorrow," said Col. Brian Murtha, the commanding officer of Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. "We need to keep protecting the community and take care of each other."

The awards presentation recognized the top three posters for each grade from Bolden Elementary/Middle School and Galer and Elliott Elementary Schools.

Artists of the top posters were rewarded with an award certificate, a medal with their respective placing and $20, $30 and $40 Marine Corps Exchange gift cards were awarded to the third, second and first place winners, respectively.

"Hopefully they learn a little bit more about recycling and had fun doing it," said Elon Wenrick, the qualified recycle program manager for MCAS Beaufort. "It’s fun for us to judge as well, listening to different people debating over the children’s posters."

The efforts of environmentalists around the globe have proven to be affecting their communities. During the first Earth Day in 1970 twenty million people celebrated nature and a cleaner tomorrow, by 2010, Earth Day's 40th anniversary, more than 1 billion people in more than 180 countries around the world were estimated to have celebrated.

Second-grader Fairynn Hyde, the first place winner of the poster contest for Elliot Elementary School, knows recycling and taking care of the environment is important for the air around her. The messages of greener habits got across to her and her family and have made them fanatics about recycling.

To make the lessons taught during Earth Day a way of life rather than a one-time thing, The Earth Day Network works with schools around the globe to integrate environmental themes into their curriculum to ensure Earth Day has a year-round, lasting impact.

"Some parents don’t think twice about throwing away anything that is recyclable," said Wenrick, a native of Laurelton, Pa. "If the [children] are learning, the [children] will teach the parents."

Earth Day is exciting; taking care of the environment is a responsibility everybody should take on, said Murtha. All should take an interest in Earth Day and take interests in their communities.

The students of Laurel Bay schools certainly were impacted by the environmental efforts of the week-long Earth Day celebration through participation, learning and acting to do something for their communities and their environment.