Six local fifth-graders honored in Rockland County’s 20th Annual Eleanor Burlingham Earth Day Essay Contest.
By Melissa Siegel
nanuet.patch.com
6/2/2011
When Natalie Patasaw teaches an environment class at a local college every year, she often finds students who have never taken environmental classes before and thus know little about this topic. So each year she is impressed by the knowledge the fifth-grade students who participate in the annual Eleanor Burlingham Earth Day Essay Contest show in this area.
Patasaw, the Rockland County Environmental Management Council chairwoman, was on hand Wednesday afternoon to present this year’s six essay contest winners with their awards. The students each received Awards of Excellence from Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef along with a pin from the council, which runs the contest.
“One of the things I think is very important is to teach students about the environment,” Patasaw said during the ceremony. “[…] We need to be aware of the condition of the environment, and all of you wrote these wonderful essays on what the environment in your part of Rockland County is like.”