Morristown Elementary Students Make The Finals Of National Video Contest - $10,000 Prize At Stake

Unity Charter School knows a lot about being green. They are an environmentally conscious school that educates its students in sustainability initiatives. The school is so popular that the number of students attending has tripled in the last few years – thus causing resources (including green space) to be stretched thin.  Any green space open for use has been severely impacted by Hurricane Sandy. Trees and ground covering were swept away – and the land needs desperate repair.

If Unity Charter wins the grand prize, they have vowed to create an outdoor classroom at the school to better continue teaching kids about the environment around them. Led by 3rd grade teacher Jennifer Carcich, the students created a mock news video in which they were reporting live on the most peculiar occurrence – talking trees! These wise trees tell the reporter about the damage they sustained during super-storm Sandy and the many benefits they offer the students.

Students were encouraged to be as creative as possible in their entries – for example, by creating a poem, a play, a speech, a song, or a dance. After rigorous scrutiny by a panel of judges, entries from around the country were narrowed down to the 12 best in the categories of most compelling relative to theme, clarity of message, and creativity.

Winners will be chosen by voters across America who can watch the top videos and vote for their favorite from January 14th through February 14th on www.scottiestreesrock.com.  

“Scotties passion about the environment can be seen in our 3-to-1 promise where for every one tree we use, we plant three in its place,” says John Robertson, Scotties Marketing Director. “Over the last 50 years, J.D. Irving, Scotties’ parent company has planted 850 million trees in North America. We are so excited to spread the message of sustainability to the next generation!”