Kersey Creek Elementary School Elementary Students Make The Finals Of Scotties National TREES ROCK! Video Contest

Scotties, a leader in the tissue industry, is pleased to announce the top 12 finalists in its TREES ROCK! video contest including a group of 3rd through 5th graders from Kersey Creek Elementary School in Mechanicsville, VA. The Grand Prize winner will receive $10,000 for their school to use towards a sustainable project, such as tree plantings, updated / recycled playground equipment and energy efficient lighting. Kids who entered the contest were required to create a 3 minute video on the importance of trees -- to themselves, to their school, and to their community.

The concept of being green is not new to Kersey Creek. As a recently constructed school, the students practice environmentally friendly procedures like recycling and reducing our paper waste. They even have classroom lighting systems that are designed to use the maximum amount of daylight – conserving valuable electricity.

But according to Garden Coordinator, Krista Loucas the mission to make the students good stewards of the earth didn't stop there. “Kersey Creek is a recognized ‘Virginia Naturally’ school,” says Loucas. “This means that for the last 7 years our school has been recognized for maintaining and continuing efforts that increase environmental awareness.”

As shown in their entry video the students have built a garden which acts as an outdoor classroom where the children learn about the environment. With the grand prize money, the students hope to expand the garden and grow enough vegetables to feed the whole school.

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 12 best in the categories of most compelling relative to theme, clarity of message, and creativity.

Winners will be chosen by voters across America who can watch the top videos and vote for their favorite from January 14th through February 14th on www.scottiestreesrock.com. 

“Scotties passion about the environment can be seen in our 3-to-1 promise where for every one tree we use, we plant three in its place,” says John Robertson, Scotties Marketing Director. “Over the last 50 years, J.D. Irving, Scotties’ parent company has planted 850 million trees in North America. We are so excited to spread the message of sustainability to the next generation!”