EPA Recognizes West Lafayette Students with 2022 President’s Environmental Award
CHICAGO (July 7, 2022) – US Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 announced that Ethan Bledsoe and Anna Prokopy, students at West Lafayette (Indiana) Junior-Senior High School, have won the President’s Environmental Youth Award for their project, Confront the Climate Crisis.
“Children are naturally curious and the environment around us harbors so much diversity and opportunity for discovery,” said EPA Regional Administrator Debra Shore. “These awards recognize enterprise and leadership – in the classroom and outside its walls. We celebrate these students’ environmental stewardship.”
Annabel and Ethan founded nonprofit organization Confront the Climate Crisis to promote STEM-focused climate literacy and provide opportunities for youth to be involved in addressing climate change through the political process. Confront the Climate Crisis has successfully supported a variety of climate legislation in Indiana. For example, the organization supported a climate emergency declaration, which was passed by the city of West Lafayette in February 2021, and the group worked with the city to create a youth city councilor position in November 2021. They worked closely with a state senator to draft two pieces of climate legislation which were filed in the Indiana state legislature in January 2022: Senate Bill 255 and Senate Concurrent Resolution 3.
“Confront the Climate Crisis is beyond honored to receive this award,” said Annabel Prokopy, 2022 awardee and Confront the Climate Crisis co-founder. “For over three years, we have worked passionately as a team to bring climate action and climate education to Indiana, and this recognition for our efforts motivates us to continue pursuing the change that we hope to see…We hope that the work we have done and the success we have had inspires others to step up in their own communities to confront the climate crisis.”
The Presidential Environmental Youth Award was established by the Environmental Education Act of 1970 and recognizes outstanding community-level environmental projects by kindergarten through 12th grade youth that promote awareness of natural resources and encourages positive community involvement. Each year, this award honors a variety of local projects developed by students, school classes, summer camp attendees, and youth organizations to promote engagement in environmental stewardship and protection.
This year, 47 students who worked as a team or individually on 10 projects received the President’s Environmental Youth Award, and two students received honorable mentions. Their stewardship projects, conducted in 2021, display a commitment to advancing community garden efforts, protecting pollinators, reducing pollution, conserving water and energy, reducing food waste, and combating climate change.