Grand Prairie, TX 4th & 5th Graders Named Top 10 Finalist in SCOTTIES National Trees Rock Video Contest

Scotties, a leader in the tissue industry is pleased to announce the top 10 finalists in their annual Trees Rock® video contest. After being voted on by a panel of judges, the students from Garner Fine Arts Academy in Grand Prairie, TX have emerged as a top 10 contender. The next phase of the contest will run from January 11th to February 7th in which all videos will be voted on by the public to determine the grand prize winner. The school with the most eligible votes will receive $10,000 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 – 6th grade on the categories of most compelling relative to theme, clarity of message, and creativity.

Led by their animation club teachers, Heather Garcia and Annette Trammell, the students of Garner Fine Arts Academy created a very creative animation concept. In their video students use clay animation off three animals that inhabit trees. After a devastating tree fire, both a sloth and a monkey are left without homes until they travel to see the wise tree frog who is able to show them how important trees really are. To see the full video click here.

This money would mean a lot to the school, as just a few years ago they were extremely close to closing their doors permanently. Transitioning from a traditional school to a creative arts institution was able to help them spike attendance from 350 students to 850 today. The arts-based curriculum helping inspire students and exciting them about education. The $10,000 grand prize money would be valuable to help ensure the school is able keep their doors open.

A clay animation monkey and sloth chat about the importance of trees.

“We here at Scotties are so impressed with this excellent video and even more so with the schools commitment to sustainability,” said John Robertson, Scotties Marketing Director. “This surely will make for some stiff competition in the voting period.”

Winners will be chosen by voters across America who can watch the top videos and vote for their favorite from January 11th through February 7th on www.scottiestreesrock.com. The winners in both categories will be announced on Feb 15th and winner events will be celebrated in spring 2016.

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 950 million trees in North America.