Ridge Student Wins Award In International Environmental Arts Competition

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Heather Qin, a student at Ridge High School, has won a Pearl Award for her Poetry & Spoken Word submission to the 2023 Ocean Awareness Contest, sponsored by Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Programs (Bow Seat).

Qin, whose piece was selected from more than 4,000 entries from around the world, received a $300 cash scholarship. Qin also will be featured in Bow Seat’s Gallery, which showcases environmental advocacy artwork created by a global community of youth.

The 2023 Contest, "Climate Heroes in Action," challenged participants to research those who are working to solve climate change issues, and to create a piece of art, writing, or media that highlights their efforts, organizations, and/or positive impacts. Qin’s Poetry & Spoken Word submission, title "Field Trip to the Beach," focused on the impact of overtourism on the environment, especially for island nations.

"Participating in the contest allowed me to explore writing by environmental activists and authors I hadn’t been exposed to before. It is easy to adopt a pessimistic view about the future of our planet, but the Bow Seat Foundation does a wonderful job of empowering youth voices and affirming that we can make a difference," said Qin.

Bow Seat’s annual Ocean Awareness Contest, now in its 13th year, is the world’s largest youth environmental program for the creative arts, providing students with a platform to creatively explore, express, and advocate for conservation issues. Since its launch, the Contest has engaged more than 32,000 middle and high schoolers from all 50 U.S. states and over 140 countries, and has awarded over $582,000 in scholarships to help advance teens’ creative talents and passion for the environment.

"We know we live in uncertain times, when teens often feel overwhelmed and discouraged, so we selected our Climate Heroes theme to show youth that the world is full of caring, dedicated people who are committed to finding climate solutions," said Linda Cabot, founder and president of Bow Seat. "We hoped that Contest participants like Qin would feel inspired by learning about climate heroes and by joining a community where young people are leading a powerful, artistic movement for our blue planet."

The 2024 Ocean Awareness Contest, "Tell Your Climate Story," is open now through June 10, to
students ages 11-18 worldwide.

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