Earth Force Project Wins 2012 Disney Planet Challenge State Award for North Carolina

January 23, 2013 - Eighth graders from Exploris Middle School in Raleigh, NC, spent the 2011-2012 school year tackling the issue of cigarette butt litter in their watershed. The formal academic period ended, but the students pressed onward, remaining committed to cleaning up their watershed permanently.

Members of the group chose to meet after school on a weekly basis to carry out their project goal of informing citizens about the adverse effects of throwing cigarette butts in waterways. The team partnered with the City of Raleigh to film three public service announcements (PSAs) for local television and secured grant funding to run bus advertisements for three months. The group's hard work was recognized by local officials and they were awarded the City of Raleigh Environmental Award.

Wanting to spread the word even further, the students submitted the project to the Disney’s Planet Challenge (DPC) Middle School program, which is a project-based environmentally-focused national competition for 6th-8th grade students. In late spring, they were awarded the 2012 DPC State Award for North Carolina!

Congrats to the Exploris Middle School students for all of their hard work!