Keep America Beautiful Presents St. Cyprian’s Episcopal School with 2018 Youth Recognition Award

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[LUFKIN, TX] – St. Cyprian’s Episcopal School received a Keep America Beautiful Youth & Education Award at Keep America Beautiful’s National Awards Ceremony, which took place during Keep America Beautiful’s National Conference in Dallas, Texas, Jan. 17-19, at the Fairmont Dallas.

St. Cyprian’s Episcopal School was one of more than 80 individuals or organizations from communities across America to receive national recognition. Keep America Beautiful’s National Awards acknowledge the passion, dedication and impact of Keep America Beautiful’s affiliates from across the nation as well as partner organizations and individuals who share Keep America Beautiful’s vision of a country in which every community is a clean, green and beautiful place to live.

Angelina Beautiful/Clean (AB/C) is the local affiliate to Keep America Beautiful and works directly in Angelina County to fulfill this vision. One of AB/C’s programs is the Campus Coordinator Green Schools program which holds meetings, provides information, educational materials and acts as a resource for educators in Angelina County. As a part of that program, local schools were challenged to complete one of three youth initiatives put forth through Keep America Beautiful to show what kind of impact an individual school can make. The initiatives are designed to be youth driven and provide teachers and students with measurable results that address national STEM initiatives and environmental stewardship.

St. Cyprian’s Episcopal School distinguished itself in the Education Institution – K-8 School category for its outstanding community work on becoming the first Keep America Beautiful school by completing all three youth initiatives: Litter Free Places, Trash-less Tree Trails and Solid Waste/Recycling Audit.

Litter Free Places measures changes in the amount of litter on school campuses (or another designated public place) before and after interventions have been identified and implemented. St. Cyprian’s Episcopal School participated in a litter collection during the annual Great American Cleanup and found that one of the main forms of litter on the school campus was stickers that were used for student recognition. They implemented a stamp system to replace the stickers and saw a drastic reduction in litter from their intervention.

Trash-less Tree Trails works with the Texas A&M Forest Service to create or label already existing trees to map a trail and assess the correlation between beautification and littering behavior. By measuring each tree through specific details, it documents and provides environmental and economic benefits of those trees in real-time. St. Cyprian’s Episcopal School mapped five trees on the school campus which yields annual benefits of $419. That benefit is broken down into these five main categories: storm water intercepted, air quality improved, carbon dioxide offset, energy savings and property value.

Solid Waste/Recycling Audit provides ways to measure the cost savings and waste reduction after implementation of solutions identified through an audit. It provides education on proper handling of waste through litter reduction and recycling. Through the Audit, St. Cyprian’s Episcopal School identified various kinds of items that were going in the trash that could be recycled and recycled items that could be generated less. Through the findings, plastic water bottles were one of the main items. Education has increased recycling within the school and to decrease waste generation, each student has been offered a reusable water bottle to fill throughout the day.

“Making the connection between learning and doing is part of what these youth initiatives set out to accomplish. Education is not enough if it doesn’t also come with implementation. These young students are the next generation of environmental stewards who can pave the way for their friends, family and the future of our world. They will be the next leaders and decision-makers that decide what and how our natural resources work for us. It is wonderful to recognize a school that is pioneering that type of leadership right here in East Texas. It’s such an incredible honor for Lufkin to be put on the map as a leader on the national stage” said Jennifer La Corte, Angelina Beautiful/Clean Executive Director.

The Keep America Beautiful Youth Recognition Awards are open to individuals, youth groups or schools for program activities taking place in the past year.

“These imaginative, inspirational and transformative educators and volunteers help bring to life creative, resourceful and meaningful programs in their communities,” said Helen Lowman, Keep America Beautiful President and CEO. “It’s my privilege to recognize St. Cyprian’s Episcopal School for such valuable, mission-based work that helps their community be more socially connected, environmentally healthy and economically sound.”

For a complete list of Keep America Beautiful National Awards recipients, click here.

The Keep America Beautiful National Conference, its premier educational and networking event, brought together nearly 400 leaders from Keep America Beautiful’s national network of affiliates, business leaders, policymakers and other experts who shared innovative ideas and proven strategies to help End Littering, Improve Recycling, and Beautify America’s Communities. Celebrating its 65th anniversary in 2018, Keep America Beautiful believes everyone has a right to live in a clean, green and beautiful community, and shares a responsibility to contribute to that vision.

About Keep America Beautiful
Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s iconic community improvement nonprofit organization, inspires and educates people to take action every day to improve and beautify their community environment. Celebrating its 65th Anniversary in 2018, Keep America Beautiful strives to End Littering, Improve Recycling and Beautify America’s Communities. We believe everyone has a right to live in a clean, green and beautiful community, and shares a responsibility to contribute to that vision.

Behavior change – steeped in education, research and behavioral science – is the cornerstone of Keep America Beautiful. We empower generations of community and environmental stewards with volunteer programs, hands-on experiences, educational curricula, practical advice and other resources. The organization is driven by the work and passion of more than 600 Keep America Beautiful affiliates, millions of volunteers, and the collaborative support of corporate partners, social and civic service organizations, academia, municipalities, elected officials, and individuals. Join us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Donate and take action at kab.org.

About St. Cyprian’s Episcopal School
Centered in a Christian environment, St. Cyprian’s Episcopal School provides children an active and challenging education in which they are encouraged to become independent, critical thinkers and problem solvers. Our goal is to prepare our students for their future, which includes developing their moral compass and learning to be compassionate leaders with a vision for the future, while we attend to their developing needs.

About Angelina Beautiful/Clean

Working in Angelina County since 1984, Angelina Beautiful/Clean (AB/C) has a mission to educate and empower East Texans to take responsibility for enhancing their community environment and serves Angelina County to help make it a cleaner, greener place to live, work and play. AB/C cultivates programs, services and education around litter reduction, recycling and beautification. It is an affiliate of Keep Texas Beautiful and Keep America Beautiful.

For more information about Angelina Beautiful/Clean, please contact Jennifer La Corte at 936-63CLEAN (936-632-5326), visit www.angelinabeautifulclean.org or follow on Facebook.

Ezra McMullen
Ezra McMullin is a content and social media producer at MSGPR and attends Angelina College. He unwinds after a long day by playing XBox, telling himself he'll just play one more level before bed.

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