School Environment Award Essay Contest Winners 2018
As part of the SEA program, there is a short story/essay contest held each year. The students are given an environmentally related theme which their stories or essays should cover. At least one winner is chosen from each grade level at each school that submits entries. The theme this year was “Preserving the Indian River Lagoon”.
Winner
A Cracked World
Once upon a time, there was a world with a gigantic crack through it. On one side there lived monsters and weird mysterious creatures. Their side was stony, dirty, and dead. The weird mysterious creatures were known as ‘Tonstores’. They were always fighting with each other, and they didn’t care about nature. On the other side of the gigantic crack, there lived creatures called ‘Ophinions’. They look like humans, but they have gills. Their skin can blend in with anything that they are around. They often live in water. The Ophinions are joyful, love to help each other, and they care about nature.
Every year the Ophinions create a bridge across the crack so they can go to the other side. They always bring signs with them when they cross. These signs have magical screens showing pictures of fresh and beautiful nature. The Ophinions bring the signs because they want the Tonstores to stop polluting by reminding the Tonstores of what their side could be like. But the leader of the Tonstores, Pegasopholius, uses dark magic to destroy the signs before other Tonstores see them. Pegasopholius doesn’t want the other Tonstores to know that their side could be better. If they knew that their side could be beautiful, the Tonstores would take away Pegasopholius’ magic crown. It is because Pegasopholius hides the truth from them, the Tonstores live in a bad place.
To get the signs in front of the Tonstores, one little Ophinion girl named Krysalis had a plan. She went to the Temple of the Sorcerers to get training so she could steal Pegasopholius’ crown. When her training was done, Krysalis got a magic potion from the sorcerers that gave her the power to lift whatever she wanted. Then Krysalis and other ‘Ophinions’ crossed the bridge over the crack at night. While the other ‘Ophinions’ planted the magic signs, Krysalis went to Pegasopholius’ castle. She snuck into his castle and drank the potion. She used the potion’s magic to take Pegasopholius’ crown. Then Krysalis snuck out of the castle and returned to the Ophinions. Once the Tonstores saw the signs, they began to make their home a better place. Because of Krysalis’ courage, the Ophinions made her their queen. The End
Moriah, Croton Elementary, 2nd Grade
Winner
A Trip to Earth
One day Lililili and Bobobobo were looking into the Earth watching those who litter. Suddenly Mama Alien shoved out the door. “I have been watching those who litter. I must show you how dangerous litter can be,” Mama Alien said. “Is this litter?” Bobobobo said, picking up a plastic bottle. Mama Alien looked closely at the object and said, “Yes!” Suddenly Lililili went inside the UFO. “Then we better go and show them not to litter!” said Lililili, turning on the UFO. “I should have never taught them how to turn on the UFO,” thought Mama. They all hopped in. 5, 4, 2, 3, 1 Blast off!!
When they got to Earth, they disguised themselves the UFO, too. Mama was a cop, Lililili was a little girl, Bobobobo was a little boy, and the UFO was a yellow and orange car. Mama caught a man littering. He threw a plastic bottle out the car window while driving. Mama Alien immediately pulled the man over and said, “Why must you litter?” “Uh . . . um . . . ” said the man. “Did you know that litter can be dangerous?” asked Mama. “No, it can not be. It is just a bottle. What harm can it possibly do?” said the man. “Oh, yes, it can do harm,” said Mama picking up a turtle choking on a bottle. “Oh . . .” said the man quietly while Mama Alien pulled the bottle out of the turtle’s mouth. “What can I do for you, then?” said the man. “Why would you say that?’ asked Mama Alien. “Because you have taught me something very valuable to know,” the man replied. “oh, you could tell your friends,” said Mama Alien. “OK!” the man said as he drove off. “WOW Mama! I feel great!” said Bobobobo. “Me, too!” said Lililili.
Rachel, Tropical Elementary, 3rd grade
Winner
Imagine what it would be like if we didn’t recycle and take care of Earth. It would be horrible! There would be no animals or food. So no food, dirty water, and Earth might become lifeless. So take care of Earth. Here are some ways to help the Earth – turn off water, turn off lights, save money and more. You can tell more people to help you take care of Earth.
Recycling is a good way to take care of Earth. People take your recyclables and turn them into something better. You can buy a shirt that was a water bottle. How cool is that? It is hard work, so we should be thankful.
Reusing is a good idea. Say you have a bunch of boxes and you don’t put them in with the recycling because you might need them and make a lot of work for people. You can keep it to play with and make something out of it. I did that once with a box to make a tunnel for my car toys.
It is a good idea to keep the Earth clean because nothing will be nice if you don’t. It will be dirty, disgusting and depressing. If you want to have a clean Earth, then you should help us clean it. If you don’t care, YOU STILL SHOULD DO IT. So, please help us keep it clean. We depend on Earth and Earth depends on us to keep it clean.
Another way to keep Earth clean is not using fossil fuels like oil and gas. One day someone might invent a care that runs on electricity, water or air. We should not waste fossil fuels. It is renewable. It just takes thousands of years for it to be made. Other ways to save fossil fuels is by using a bus rather than car because you save fuel. Have a good litter free day!
Hayden, Tropical, 3rd grade
Winner
The Adventures of Swimmy and Gilbert: Raising Awareness About the Lagoon
One day, in the Sebastian Inlet, a sea turtle named Swimmy was swimming around with his friends, when all of a sudden, he was found stuck in a plastic bag that was from a storm drain near the Sebastian Inlet. He was very scared because he could not breathe and his friends didn’t know how to save him. Then, one of his friends, Gilbert, remembered how to remove things from someone’s head. He quickly jumped into action and saved Swimmy. He thanked Gilbert and was then forever grateful for the good deed that his friend did to save his life. Luckily, Gilbert saved him, but he wanted to do something about all of the pollution that is found floating around his home. The next day, Swimmy was talking with Gilbert about what happened. “Why are humans so careless when it comes to the environment? I mean, they wouldn’t like it if us sea turtles threw trash of all kinds into their homes, would they?” Gilbert softly replied, “Maybe they don’t mean to throw all of the trash into the ocean. Maybe the trash flies out of their trash can and into the sewer. Maybe they just do not know how the trash, fertilizers, and the chemicals affect us.” Swimmy paused, thought it over, looked at Gilbert, and screamed,” THAT’S IT! People don’t know how all of the pollution hurts us!” About a week later, Swimmy and Gilbert set off on the biggest adventure of their lives- traveling away from home and up the Indian River Lagoon to their friends at the Marine Biology Center. They were swimming for 2 hours straight, when all of a sudden, they saw the building. The head biologist, Dr. Kathy Wentworth, was a good friend of the turtles. She talked to Gilbert and Swimmy for a while, discussing the problems of pollution and its effect on sea turtles and other sea animals in the Indian River Lagoon. She finally agreed after a while of discussing with the turtles that she would put up signs about pollution and also speak to the mayor and the rest of the county publicly on Thursday. She said, “I am very confident that the people of Brevard County will start to be more careful about what they do with trash, what they use on their yards, such as fertilizer, and how they use resources.” Swimmy and Gilbert both agreed, thanked Dr. Wentworth, and started down the lagoon. That Thursday, Dr. Wentworth was at the town hall, giving a speech about the Indian River Lagoon and how the animals are being severely injured and even killed by pollution and trash. She also talked about how the fertilizer that many citizens use to keep their grass green is a big problem for the animals. She eventually signed a form agreement saying that citizens must only use fertilizer 2 times a month. If you do not, you will be fined $100. Also, she made an agreement with the mayor that agrees that every month, the citizens of Brevard have to unite to clean up the community. So, Swimmy and Gilbert, along with all of their sea animal friends, were safe from pollution and other harmful things that people throw into the ocean, and people started to be more careful about what they did in the environment.
The sea animals of the Indian River Lagoon were eternally grateful for the citizens of Brevard County’s actions, along with Dr. Wentworth, who helped save all of the sea animals’ lives. And, so, the animals and citizens of Brevard County lived happily ever after.
The End
Isabella, Manatee, 6th grade
Winner
Tayla, Manatee Elementary, 6th grade
Winner
It was a very busy day at the beach with many people hanging out and swimming. People had picnics, ate food, and had garbage. It’s fine to have garbage at the beach- as long as you pick it up. There was a kid who was eating a bag of Doritos at a picnic. When he and his family were done, they picked up all their trash, except for the bag of chips. It would stay on the beach for a few hours, but then it was found by a hungry seagull named Eddie.
Eddie picked up the bag of Doritos to see if there was any more chips left for him. He could not find any chips inside the empty bag, so he decided to throw it into the ocean, which was not a good idea. After the seagull did this, Sal, who is a crab spots the bag of Doritos floating in the ocean. He asks the seagull if he knows anything about it. Eddie told him he found it on the sand and checked it out to see if there was anything in it. Sal told him that was not a good idea to pick it up because he could choke on it. Sal later explained that a human left the bag there and that it should’ve been picked up. He also mentioned that the seagull shouldn’t have threw the bag into the ocean because another animal could find it and be harmed. Ed the seagull had learned his lesson about litter on the beach.
The bag of Doritos was floating in the ocean all night until the morning hours. A lone sea turtle named Mary was hunting for some jellyfish to eat when she encountered the bag.
Mistaking it for her prey, Mary was about to consume it when a seal that went by the name of Bob zipped to the turtle and saved her from eating it. Bob made it clear that it was not a jellyfish and if she ate it, it would have killed her. After this was settled, Mary and Bob did not know what to do with the bag of Doritos. After some brainstorming, they decided that the Mary should go back to shore and leave at a place where other animals won’t be able to discover it. Mary said goodbye to Bob and headed toward the shore. Finally, Mary arrived at the shore, but she couldn’t find a good place to leave the bag. Just like she does with her eggs, she decide to dig up a hole to put the bag in. After she did this, she returned back into the ocean.
Eddie was walking around the beach again when he found another bag of Doritos. This bag of Doritos led him to find a pile of trash on the sand with more bags of chips, soda cans, plastic bags, and plastic straws. He knew that they were all harmful to other animals, so he and searched for Sal the crab. After Sal and leading him to the pile of trash, Sal was displeased. Sal knew that they had to do something about all the trash being left by people. Sal went to get his family and friends while Eddie the seagull found a few other seagulls he knew. They scheduled a meeting to decide on how to deal with the issue.
Sal’s sister suggested that they should dig up a hole and put all of the garbage in the hole, like the sea turtle did. One of the seagulls proposed that the crabs should collect all the trash and the seagulls fly it to a trash can. After a few other ideas from both crabs and seagulls, the group decided to force the humans to correctly throw away their trash. The next day was a very busy day. The seagulls and crabs knew they would be able to operate their plan today. After a little bit, Sal saw a careless human throw his trash on the ground and walk away. One of the crabs went over to pinch the human to get his attention. It did get his focus, and he turned around and saw a large group of crabs and seagulls where he left his trash. The seagulls took the trash he left and forced it into his hands. Then, the crabs walked him to the trash can and told him that this was where he should leave his trash. The human learned his lesson to pick up all of his trash.
Eddie, Manatee Elementary, 6th grade
Winner
Future, 2040
Lucas looked out of his widow at the green muck that surrounded the murky water bordering his yard, although he could barely see it through the smog that polluted the air. The environment was in a bad shape, and nobody was trying to save it. Lucas’ parents told him about a time, long ago, when you could actually see the sky and could go outside with no fear and not having to wear a body protection suit and oxygen masks. A good time – a better time.
Now, lobbyists, big companies, and the nation’s leaders had thrown the environment into chaos. Big machines and factories had destroyed, plundered, and devastated both the nation’s resources and the environment. With no laws against pollution and climate protection, the Ozone layer was nearly destroyed and no greenery remained. The Earth, once home to greenery, life, and vegetation, had been struggling, while the biggest species in the World, turned a blind eye. Humans had a responsibility to stop, but they did not.
Lucas walked around his house to his wardrobe. It was filled with orange clothes and white suits. There was only those two because the only clothes he could wear outside were white suits, and the only clothes he could wear inside the suit, and therefore anywhere inside other than his house, were orange clothes. He put on one of the suits and stepped into the airlock that led outside. As soon as he got outside, he saw a man. This man had a cheerful face and seemed to be glowing. His clothes were green with pictures of greenery and plants flowing across them. He appeared transparent, even ghostly. Then, he started speaking. “Hello.”
“Hello,” Lucas replied.
The man seemed confused. “Where are the trees?”
“What trees?” Lucas asked. “Everyone knows there aren’t any trees.”
“What? Oh . . . Let me take you back in time.”
Lucas felt a rushing sensation past his head and realized it was the sands of time. A blinding light hit his eyes and he fell down.
Lucas opened his eyes. He was standing in a brightly lit space. There were clouds in the sky – he could see the sky! There were trees all around. The man still stood there. “You see what the Earth once was. A haven of greenery and vegetation. That future is not what the Earth was meant to be.”
Lucas understood what he had to do. He went around telling people to save the environment and how important it was. The man teleported him to other places. He told people about the dangers of pollution. He went around saying how Climate Change was real and how it can be stopped. He went to people who could make a difference and told them what no one else had the courage to do. After a day of teleportation and notification, the man teleported Lucas back to the space outside his house. “Now you know how important the Earth really is.”
Lucas looked around to a new space, filled with trees and vegetation. He looked up at a sky he could see and air he could breathe. He looked at his clothes, that were not body protection suits. He suddenly felt very thankful for the Earth.
Thejas, Freedom 7 Elementary, 6th grade
Winner
Bob’s Achievement
Bob was an ordinary guy who wanted to stop littering on the beaches and stopped people from throwing trash on the beaches. Bob usually every Saturday goes out onto the beach if he isn’t working and picking up trash and every Sunday goes into the ocean and goes about 5 miles out from the shore line to pick up trash. Bob saw a baby turtle on the shore with a net round its fin and Bob was so sad that he couldn’t do anything about it because it’s illegal to touch a turtle without a license. Bob called the police and reported the turtle incident to the police and the police said that they will take it off and once they were done, Bob wants the net back so that he can make sure it gets put in the right place. That next day was Monday and Bob didn’t have to work so he decided to make an after school club on Saturday – Sunday for kids to allow kids to clean the beach. Bob was with a bunch of kids on Saturday to clean the beach and at the end on that day, Bob will see who got the most trash and whoever did will get ice cream. On Saturday, Bob went with about 5-10 kids on his boat and the kids got to swim and pick up trash at the same time. Bob was happy to see that the kids enjoy picking up trash at the beach so Bob spent about $1000 on 24 trophies for the kids and the parents get free tickets to Kid town and free laser tag admissions. Bob really just wanted the kids to know that the beach is very important to keep clean and that the animals are just asking for help. It is very important to pick up trash on the beach and ocean because tens of thousands of whales and fish die from plastic bags in a year. That’s why it is important to throw away your trash in a trash can and another reason to throw away your trash in a trash can is because trash can be turned into energy that we can use for cars and houses. When Bob was 65, he made a law that all police officers must check for fingerprints on litter on the ground and find the suspect and if so then fine will be at a cost of $1000. Hopefully, most people take this poem seriously and stop littering on beaches and the ocean.
Braylon, Westside Elementary, 5th grade
Winner
Saving the Ocean
Since I live in Florida, my family goes to the beach a lot, so we see a lot of trash on the beach and we always come back with trash that we pick up on the shore. So it is important that everyone who goes to the beach picks up trash. If you don’t have people picking up trash, all of it will wash into the ocean. If the trash washes away into the ocean, sea life will eat it and could possibly die. For example, turtles will eat trash bags in the ocean because they look like a jellyfish.
Also, if you are in a family stay off the dunes because the dunes are protection for animals and sea turtles lay eggs on the dunes. And when you mess with the dunes, they get destroyed and the sea life can’t use the dunes anymore to have protection and a place to lay their eggs.
You can also volunteer for many of the beach protection groups that go to the beach and help pick up trash and tell people what they can do to help protect the beaches. They also tell people to turn their lights off because the turtles lay their eggs and follow the moonlight to the dunes and if people have their lights on turtles will lay their eggs in the wrong places, and have a hard time finding their way back to the ocean.
Another way to protect the environment and the sea life is to prevent releasing balloons because they float into the air and over the ocean. When they run out of helium, the balloons fall in the ocean and turtles and other sea life think it’s food and they eat it then they get injured.
The trash that you find on the beach can also be harmful to other animals like seagulls. They will pick it up and get it wrapped around their beak or legs or even their wings. And if there is no trash on the beach, none of the sea life or birds will be harmed by the trash.
You can also protect the ocean by not using fertilizers if you live by the beach. Fertilizers have ingredients that can pollute the ocean and harm the animals and organisms that live in the ocean. So to prevent this, please do not use fertilizers if you live near the beach or if you live near any major rivers.
Another way you can protect the beach and the animals that live in it you can tie down any trash outside or you can bring any trash or loose items inside to prevent the storm from blowing trash into the ocean or on the beach.
To conclude this, the ways you can protect the ocean are picking up trash before you leave the beach, you can prevent balloon releases so the balloons don’t end up in the ocean after the helium runs out, and you can also get rid of fertilizers so it doesn’t cause a lot of pollition after it flushes into the ocean.
Spencer, Westside Elementary, 5th grade
Winner
“Hey, Ron, pick up your trash!” Josh insisted in a serious manor, “I don’t have to you environment lover!” Ron replied angrily. The school has been having a competition for whoever picked up the most trash in a week at the lagoon and Ron was last. There was a prize of $100 for the person who collected the most trash. Josh didn’t care for the money prize so he had donated $95. Ron was staring at him bitterly but Josh didn’t mind, then Josh’s friend, Emily came and asked Josh if he wanted to go to the lagoon to hang out and pick up trash. Josh has been all around but his family stuck in Rockledge for the last year of middle school. Ron asks if he could come because he had liked Emily since 5th grade. They say yes and decide to go to the lagoon. Emily and Josh had been picking up a lot of trash and when they got there they saw that the lagoon was polluted overnight. It wasn’t a normal pollution, someone had gone out their way to dump loads of toilet paper into the lagoon. Ron just laughed like a maniac. Emily asked, “Ron did you do this? We’ll have to be here all night thanks to you.” She was visibly sad so that made Ron sad, he said sorry and left. Josh had spent hours with Emily picking up trash, talking, etc. at the lagoon. In the evening after a long day of work they decided to leave. Later Ron came back to find them but he could tell they left, there was still more than half of the trash left behind and he started crying, he saw some fish belly up with toilet paper in their mouth. Earlier he thought this was funny but now his crying went to sobbing. After a while of crying he decided he knew what he had to do. The next morning the trio of friends went to the lagoon and it was cleared, they checked the leaderboard and was astonished to see that Ron had taken the lead with 43 lbs. of trash picked up. Along with the trash the lagoon was completely clear of algae and pesticides. After a week it had led to a two way tie between Ron and Josh, just as Ron was taking his last bit of garbage, he spotted Josh out of the corner of his eye talking to Emily and gave Josh the trash so he could win. After he turned it in he went back to the two who had been talking about life and getting along really well. Joshy smiled and they decided to split the money evenly among the trio and Josh gave Ron the extra dollar. Ron and Emily trailed of through the hall talking and laughing. Josh felt happy and walked away, not knowing what would happen next. Apparently the donation box was a secret competition and he had won. It was two tickets to go on a boat tour in the lagoon. He showed them to Ron and he decided to go with Josh, they had a great time and they had both been a great help to the environment, they were happier than any other people on the ride, just because they helped. The end
Meechai, Manatee, 6th grade
Winner
A lifeline, a source of life, even a way of transportation. The Indian River Lagoon located in Palm Bay Florida, and is in great peril. Pollution such as runoff garbage from local homes, destroyed habitats, and over run of algae. This is infecting everything from the animals to the plants that are native to the environment. There are many ways people have been making an effort but are a few organizations helping this cause, but not nearly enough. Being cautious of where debris and extra garbage ends up, boats following the speed limit and signs, and planting more trees like mangroves, can fulfill the responsibility that we have to keep the Indian River Lagoon a safe environment.
You may not always be aware of its presence, but garbage like plastic, unnatural liquid, fishing line, and other household items are floating around in the lagoon whether floating on top, disintegrated in the water, or sunken to the water and ingested by desperate animals. Fishing line is an extremely dangerous and slow killer. Many careless fisherman and boats lose or dump their extra or old fishing tools not aware of the impact it holds on the environment. Fish swim through and get tangled or caught unable to move or breathe facing certain death. Anybody who enjoys to fish can be extra careful of what they are catching, and where their lines go after they do so. Disintegrated plastic is also a killer. Some kinds of plastic are able to disintegrate in the water and become invisible to the local wildlife. Some things people can do to help is when they are taking their kayak rides down the river, just to pick up any garbage they see and to be conscientious of where they throw something away. The best way to help, is to know what you are doing and think about the impact it may have. Just being so kind as throwing your garbage away instead of putting it on the ground is an improvement too.
Another big issue is the damage to habitats and habitat loss. This mainly happens because of people stepping somewhere carelessly or the wakes created by boats when driving by. The signs that say “slow speed minimum wake” is there because precious habitats home to many kinds of species live there and some help clean and filter the water. Planting trees like mangroves provide food and a suitable habitat for fish. It is also a spot where fish can lay their eggs where predators such as sharks are not able to disturb them. Listening to the signs and careful of where you are stepping are beneficial efforts that can save their home and our lagoon.
Many parts of the lagoon are over run by algae, this life form takes up all of the oxygen and makes it more difficult for plants and animals to breath. Algae grows in warm temperatures and with the right amount of nutrients. Planting more plants in the lagoon will use up more of the nutrients that the algae need in order to grow. Plants like mangroves will also help filter out the water and keep it clean. Planting mangroves are easy. Just find a seed, put it in water, and watch it grow until it is ready to plant, and plant it on the side of the lagoon, and live a guilt free life.
Returning our lagoon to its healthy original condition will not be easy, but nothing worth it ever is. It is the small stuff that counts, so be a clean green machine, it only starts with a bean.
Danielle, Manatee, 6th grade
Winner
Captain W’s secret identity is Wally Waterson. Today I saw my love Petunia. She was buying a fertilizer shot from the bee market. When all of a sudden something giant crashed over Field City, leaving the city with a giant earthquake. I went to investigate the crash site; the site was about 27 miles away. As I approached the crash, I saw a strange hot liquid seeping out of a metallic canister. I was on my way to touch it as something moving fast caught my eye. I headed over in the direction of the strange movement, but when I got there I could see nothing, only tracks. I had never seen these tracks before, so I took a plaster of them to the city scientist, Dr. G Hopper. He analyzed the tracks telling me that it wasn’t from anything from this planet. I then quickly rushed over to the crash site and found the strange hot liquid was all dried up.
This scene left me wondering. Where was the sky, and why was the ground charred? It was on my mind all day. I did research day and night but found nothing to help me with answers on the case I walked the streets at day, watching people in the shadows wondering if they had anything to do with it. I saw that Petunia wasn’t at work as often which was strange, so I went to visit her and found she was sick. I asked what happened, but she had no response except for a blank stare as if she was in a trance. The following day, I went back to her house and I realized that there was no sign she was home. As I approached the house, I saw a note taped to the door and it read, “Good day, CAPTAIN W!”
I was concerned so I brought the note into detectives to dust for fingerprints. They said there were no fingerprints – there was only a trace of a strange liquid. Could this be the same strange liquid I saw at the crash site? The next day two other citizens went missing – Rose and Daisy. I realized that they were from the Flowers family. The results were finally done on the strange liquid that I had run into days earlier; it was no liquid that is found on our planet. Where is this from? Who or what brought this from? Who or what brought this here? I went to the mayor’s office to speak to him but strangely he wasn’t there, and he was always there! Could he be missing now, too?
Next I went to the Mayor’s house to see if he was home. His car was there, but I didn’t see any lights on. I went to the door but the door was unlocked. I pulled out my flash light and entered the house. When I did I saw a trail of the liquid going to the mayor’s room. The door was closed so I kicked it open, only to see that the Mayor was lying there all dried up. I called for backup to help solve this. However, once they arrived he was gone – disappeared without a trace. I didn’t understand what had happened but I intended to find out. I went to my lair where I went to check the city cameras. In doing so, I saw a black van leaving the Mayor’s house and also saw that someone was entering through the back when I found the Mayor. When I finally realized who I was seeing, I was shocked. It was none other than the Bee’s, as in Bee’s Market.
They had almost gotten away with it, but I figured out the ties. Each person who went missing had taken a fertilizer shot which makes the person sick. It was kind of like a flu shot that those humans take to not get the flu. The Bee’s have been putting little parasites in the fertilizer shot which caused some citizens to become sick. I went to different warehouses and at the third one I found the missing citizens tied up in the back. As I untied them, a honey shot whizzed by me. In return, I shot a metal cable causing the platform to fall where a Bee’s were standing. When I found all the Bee’s, I tied them up and took them to the police. The Bee’s were then locked up for good. After everyone was safe, I resumed my everyday life and Field City wsa safe once again.
Sebastian, Palm Bay Elementary, 6th grade
Winner - 1st Place
Once upon a time, there was an incredible lagoon with lively and beautiful wildlife. In this lagoon, there was a sweet little turtle named Myrtle. And on this day, it was a big day, for our little turtle friend. Myrtle would get to try out, to be a member of the Turtle Team, and participate in the Turtle Bowl.
The Turtle Bowl was a BIG event that only happens once a year, where teams compete to be the ultimate Turtle Champions! Myrtle would be trying out to play Turtleball this year. Past years, he had tried out for many sports, including The Seaweed Chompers, the Balders, The Starflyers, and The Gators. Even though Myrtle has always tried his best, he hasn’t ever been able to make any of the teams. He had hoped to be like his friends who were the champions of past years. This year, he is confident that he will make the team.
So on that day, he tried out. He made sure to eat tons of seaweed that morning, not knowing that it would be a BAD idea. That seaweed that he ate, gave him a big headache. The headache distracted him while trying out and his times were much slower than he had practiced.
When the bad news came that he didn’t make the team, Myrtle got so upset that he swam away. He was thinking to himself, “I will swim to the edge of town.” He ended up swimming to the other side of the Lagoon.
As he was swimming, he ran into a boulder. Myrtle decided he would swim around the boulder and when he did, he was amazed at what he saw. He saw his friends that had just gone missing. He called out to his friends, “Squirtle, Fred, Swimmy!” They didn’t answer back. As he looked, their mouths were moving but they weren’t able to speak. As he went closer, Myrtle saw something that was around their necks. It looked to be a plastic ring. He had seen humans on land, drinking a whole variety of sodas and sports drinks that must have come in the plastic rings. The humans had thrown their trash, the bottle and plastic, into the water.
Myrtle knew he had to help his friends. He swam as fast as he could to the top of the water. When he got there, he said to the humans, “Stop throwing those in the water! My friends are stuck in them and need your help!”
The humans agreed and rushed to help Myrtle and his friends. Thankfully, they were able to get there in time and Squirtle, Fred and Swimmy were saved. Myrtle and his friends thanked the humans for their help but reminded them that the lagoon was their home. The humans agreed and promised they would work really hard to clean up their mess and to start a project to clean up the lagoon.
What a day it was for Myrtle. In the end, it didn’t matter if he won the Turtle Bowl. By helping his friends and cleaning up the Lagoon, he ended up being the champion of all champions.
Hailey, Gemini, 4th grade
Winner - 2nd Place
Saving the Lagoon
One day a young girl, Brooke, was watching a television program about keeping our Earth clean. Her sister, Brenna, walked into the room.
“What are you watching?” Brenna asked.
“It’s a show about keeping our land clean,” Brooke told her.
The two sisters continued watching and listening to the program very carefully.
“Why don’t we take care of our lagoon instead of just land?” Brooke thought out loud.
“What’s a lagoon?” asked Brenna.
“A lagoon is a body of salt water separated from the sea by a low sandbank or coral reef,” Brooke explained.
“Oh! So that’s what a lagoon is!”
The next day the two sisters went to their parents.
“Mother, Father, can Brenna and I go to the lagoon?” Brooke asked her parents.
“Why of course,” said her parents.
The sisters walked to the lagoon.
“Look at all the trash!” exclaimed Brenna.
“Let’s start cleaning up,” said Brooke, holding a trash bag.
The sisters found a whole bag worth of trash and plastic. After they found almost all the trash on the bank, they went home and ran to their parents.
“Look at how much trash we picked up!” Brenna told her parents.
“Wow!” said her parents.
“What are you going to do with all of the plastic you guys found?” asked their mother.
“I’m not sure,” said the sisters.
“Why don’t you recycle it?” asked the mother.
“What’s that?” Brenna asked.
“It’s when you make something reusable!” exclaimed their mother.
“Give me an example,” said Brooke.
“Well, you know how much you love playgrounds? Some are made out of recycled plastic,” said their mother.
“Cool!” exclaimed the sisters.
The sisters then recycled all the plastic they found by dumping it in their recycle bin. They also continued to make daily trips to the lagoon shore to pick up trash and plastic. Because they noticed that a lot of the trash was things like straws, plastic forks and spoons, and bottle caps from water bottles, the girls decided that they would no longer use those things and would instead drink water from reusable water bottles or cups. They decided they would never, ever use straws again. They also started telling all of their friends to stop using those things as well. They even got their friends to join them on the lagoon clean ups.
And guess what? The story doesn’t stop here! The local newspaper got word of the children cleaning up the lagoon with their friends and published a story with pictures about their efforts. Now, there is a whole movement in their community to reduce, recycle, and reuse. It’s amazing what even little changes and actions can make a BIG difference to saving our lagoon.
Brooke, Gemini Elementary, 4th grade
Winner - Third Place
Saving The . . . . Lagoon
Kylie was walking down the street on her phone watching Dantdm, then an ad showed up about reducing, reusing and recycling the trash that is found in and at our lagoon. Kylie did not care for a moment then she realized that the fishies would be killed by choking on the trash. Kylie had to do something about this catastrophe. A few days later, Kylie got a gang of friends to join her in saving their lagoon. The friends were Cora, Issy, Zoe, and Brooke. So first the friends cleaned up the east of the lagoon then the west. By the time they were finished, their trash bag could not carry all that trash so they had to get two more trash bags to carry the trash so they took the recycling can, and if you did not know recycling means to convert waste into reusable materials. Not long after the cleanup, people heard about it and they wanted to do it to, and for two years the lagoon stayed happy and healthy. The End.
Kylie, Gemini Elementary, 4th grade
Winners
How to Keep Mother Earth Green
Mothe Nature is how the keep the Earth green. To clean up the Earth, Nature is in our hands. To keep Mother Nature is to not litter. If you see some litter, put it in the trash can or recycle. If you litter, it will be not good for the Earth.
Tiffany, Sherwood Elementary, 2nd grade
Recycle and Clean Up the Earth
Once there was an alien staring at Earth. He didn’t like how people were littering. So he took his UFO. His UFO had cars and blue and red stripes. He landed on Earth. He started picking up trash. People started to feel bad for the alien. So they helped cleanup Earth and learned their lesson! Did you ever litter and an alien showed up? Did you feel bad for the alien?
Olivia, Sherwood Elementary, 2nd grade