Josh Campbell-Special to the Sun

Sixth grade science students from Woodrow Wallace Middle School participated in the statewide Edison Challenge competition at the Kern River Preserve on Saturday.

Sponsored by Edison International and USC’s Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies, the competition stipulates that students must complete four tasks by February 21st to be eligible for the grand prize trip to Catalina Island. The first task requires students to volunteer for a community service activity involving energy and the environment. The program forces students to become active members in their communities by poseing several questions that can only be answered by taking action in enviormantal conservation. The challenge encouarges students to be aware of their enviorment, and promotes energy conservation. The Edison Challenge works to educate students on the benefits of green energy as well as cleaner fuels and methods for protecting the enviorment. There was plenty of energy being exerted by the five girls selected for the contest. They were busy raking leaves in front of the Preserve’s visitors’ center early Saturday morning. Gillian Amos, Holly Rickel, Shasta Christensen, Jill Schulz and Brooke Kelso won this honor by each writing an essay describing why they want to help the environment. Their science teacher, Debbie Campbell, said that there were many other kids that wrote essays and wanted to help, but they didn’t have good enough grades to participate in the contest. The girls came up with several different ideas about what they could do for the community service portion of the project. 'We wanted to plant trees', said Holly Rickel, 'but it’s too late in the year and they might die.' Recycling and testing the river water were other choices they came up with, but Campbell decided that they should take this opportunity to help out one of Kern Valley’s underappreciated landmarks. 'This area is known as a Riparian Forest', said Reed Tollefson, manager of Kern River Preserve, 'and it’s one of the most diverse ecosystems in California'. The dense Cottonwood trees that surround the visitors’ center certainly look like a forest and the steady breeze supplies the girls with an unending workload.

A student from Woodrow Wallace Middle School spent Saturday raking leaves at the Kern Valley Preserve as a part of a statewide enviromental conservation competion sponsored by Southern California Edison.

'Raking leaves is really underrated work', said Reed. The girls cheerfully scoop the piles of leaves onto large tarps and drag them over to the creek bed where they will decompose back into the soil. If they are left on the front lawn, however, the fallen leaves will kill the grass. Reed’s daughter, Miko and Holly’s younger sister Tina were also helping with the autumn chore, even though they aren’t in the contest. The other tasks that are required for the contest include writing an environmental science lesson for other classrooms, making a creative multi-media presentation and putting together a portfolio of the team’s work. 'Next we’re going to do a play for some of the younger kids', said Gillian Amos. The girls will write and perform the play themselves. The winners of the contest will be announced at the Edison challenge recognition event held on Saturday, March 15th in Rosemead. The second place prize is a hiking and lake trip in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. 'We really want to win the first prize to Catalina', said Campbell, 'we can go hiking around the lake whenever we want'. Teachers are also eligible to win cash prizes for classroom supplies and professional development. The Kern River Preserve is open seven days a week, sunrise to sunset for all to enjoy. For more information on upcoming events call (760) 378-3044 or go to the preserve’s website at http://kern.audubon.org.

For more information regarding energy conservation or this year’s edison challenge visit Southern California Edison’s website at www.sce.com.