Egg Harbor, NJ 6th Graders Named Top 10 Finalist in SCOTTIES National Trees Rock(R) Video Contest

Scotties, a leader in the tissue industry is pleased to announce the top 10 entries in their Trees Rock® video contest. The 6th grade students from Alder Avenue Middle School in Egg Harbor, NJ have emerged as one of the top 10 finalists in the 6th - 8th grade section of this national video contest. The Grand Prize Winner in this division will receive $10,000 for the school to use towards a sustainable project, such as tree plantings, outdoor classrooms, playgrounds, athletic fields, gardens and greenhouses. All kids who entered the contest were required to create a video up to 3 minutes long on the importance of trees -- to themselves, their school, and their community.

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 10 best in 3rd – 5th grade and the 10 best in 6th-8th grade the categories of most compelling relative to theme, clarity of message, and creativity.

Led by teacher, John A. Jones who touts a background in Ornamental Horticulture, the students jumped in full force to creating a video. The students all participate in environmental stewardship program called the “Catawba Project” that Jones volunteers to run. As a big proponent of hands-on learning, the video contest became a natural fit for the students.

According to Jones, “The Catawba Project has evolved into an award-winning district-wide environmental umbrella program that has sparked many ancillary educational projects in and out of EHT classrooms including Saltwater Expeditions, Community Teaching Garden, Recycling and Energy-Saving Solar Power projects; raising Quail Hatchlings from incubation; Raising and Repopulating Trout; charting Native Plant and Animal Life; creating Monarch Butterfly Weigh Stations; and ReLEAF for EHT, a program that gives students the opportunity to create outdoor classroom sites featuring rain gardens, pond structures, and greenhouses where students raise and nurture fragile dune beach grass and hardwood tree saplings for reforestation and dune replenishment of sparse areas of the Township and surrounding wetland areas that have been affected the most by overpopulation in the area.”

Alder Avenue Middle School students are no strangers creating lasting environmental change. During the video process students were already hard at work on a restoration project of transforming a former mining pit into a community-friendly nature park. Through this project, EHT students have sculpted ‘smart trails’ that guide visitors through a 5-acre parcel of indigenous shrubs and trees. Once complete, visitors to the park can use their smart phones to scan the QR codes on trail signage to learn more about Egg Harbor Township’s indigenous plants and trees they encounter on the trails.

Watch the full video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A3eRqFBNx4&index=3&list=PLd4pm6Yumj1t4zGJlzYOBdMWdnFK8lBGu

Winners will be chosen by voters across America who can watch the top videos and vote for their favorite from January 12th through February 6th on www.scottiestreesrock.com. The winners in both categories will be announced on Feb 15th and winner events will be celebrated in spring 2015.

Scotties is passionate about sustainability with their 3-to-1 promise. In which for every one tree they use, they plant three in its place. Over the last 50 years, Irving Consumer Products Limited, Scotties’ parent company has planted 900 million trees in North America.

About Scotties Facial Tissue:
Considered one of the top facial tissue manufacturers in the United States, Scotties Facial Tissues is owned by Irving Consumer Products Limited, a Canadian-based and family owned company committed to managing its operations in an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible manner. Scotties has created Trees Rock in an effort to promote their tree planting initiatives in the United States. For more information about Scotties Facial Tissues and its 3-to-1 Tree Planting Promise, please visit www.scottiesfacial.com and for more information on Trees Rock visit www.scottiestreesrock.com.