Capital Region Earth Force announced today that Francis C. Hammond Middle School in Alexandria has been selected School of the Year. The announcement was made at Capital Region Earth Force’s 2009 Youth Summit at Bluemont Park in Arlington, and it recognized seventh graders’ exemplary collective effort to address a problem affecting water quality in the Holmes Run watershed in Alexandria.
When Hammond students in science teacher Nancy Bort’s classes and 7-4 Explorer Team examined conditions at Holmes Run, they were struck by the amount of trash evident in and around the stream, particularly discarded plastic bags. They decided that a significant part of the problem was lack of public awareness of the issue and of alternatives to throwaway bags.
Embracing digital media as a trash-free alternative to printed flyers, the students chose to produce a movie, “to tell people the facts and get them motivated.” They developed a script, auditioned actors, and arranged filming for a 4 1/2-minute movie entitled Holmes Run and Other Streams: How They Affect Your Environment, now set to air three times a day during the month of May on ACPS-TV channel 71 and featured on the Alexandria City Public Schools website (view video here).
In addition to raising public awareness, Hammond students aimed to address the issue of plastic bag waste 
directly by making reusable bags to give away at local groceries. Using scrap fabric and borrowed sewing equipment, they crafted more than 75 reusable grocery bags, one of which they presented to Congressman Jim Moran at the Youth Summit. The bags are to be distributed in May.
Approximately 200 students from Arlington and Alexandria were on hand for the Youth Summit’s day of learning and celebration, sponsored in part by the Staples Foundation for Learning. A team of Staples Region 3 staff were responsible for reviewing nominations and selecting the winning school. Presenting the award was Staples Region 3 Vice President Patrick Girard.