Luminant is generating more than much-needed electricity – it’s generating excitement among Texas fifth-graders, teachers, parents and local leaders. Through the 2009 Luminant Scholar Program, Luminant spread its message of environmental conservation across Texas schools, while achieving countless milestones along the way.
The Luminant Scholar Program strengthened its impact in 2009, with more than twice as many fifth-graders participating than in 2008. The 2009 Luminant Scholar Program reached a record-breaking 12,000 fifth-graders across 40 Texas school districts; ultimately awarding $55,000 in scholarships and grants.
More than 35 local officials, including mayors, state representatives and staff members took part in the program’s award ceremonies, in which Luminant presented a $1,000 U.S. Savings Bond to one winning fifth-grader from each district.
“It is exciting to see the program grow, but most importantly it is exciting to see the impact this program is having in our local schools and communities,” said Phil Wilson, senior vice president of public affairs. “The creativity and the commitment to environmental conservation displayed by the participating students will have a profound impact on our Earth for future generations to come.”
The 2009 Luminant Scholar Program concluded with the selection of three grand–prize-winning essays. Luminant awarded $5,000 grants to the representing schools from Mount Pleasant, Paris and Glen Rose.
“The students who wrote the grand prize winning essays reflected a true commitment to environmental protection in their everyday life and shared a common theme – a desire to put their thoughts into action,” said Robert Gentry, Luminant Scholar director.
To celebrate each school’s grand prize win, Luminant hosted a ceremony with local elected officials, school administrators, teachers and parents on hand as the grant was awarded. Students were surprised with something even sweeter at the end of the event – Luminant threw an ice cream party for all 650 fifth-graders to enjoy.
“These grand prize winning schools have strong science and environmental education programs in place, along with dedicated educators who are committed to teaching our youth about protecting our natural resources. It is our hope that the grants will be used toward expanding these efforts so that many more students and families will be inspired to take action,” shared Gentry.
Read what our grand prize winners have to say about environmental conservation:
“Schools can arrange to have recycling bins in certain areas so that items brought by students can be taken to the proper recycling centers.” – Reagan Ball, Mt. Pleasant ISD
“One fun thing I could do is to get my friends and their parents together to go out and have a ‘recycle’ scavenger hunt. We could have a list of some of the things we can recycle and go out with our parents to try to collect the items.” – Tierani Bryan, Paris ISD
“Another way we can help the environment is to conserve water. We catch our run-off rainwater and use it to water our flowerbeds.” – Mallory Daniels, Glen Rose ISD.