Corporate
Samsung and NEEF Award $30K in New Technology to Winners of Climate Superstars Challenge
11/10/2022
Samsung Electronics America and the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) are working together to increase environmental literacy among our nation’s middle school students through initiatives like the Climate Superstars Challenge, now in its eighth year.
“Every year, I am inspired by the dedication of so many teachers and students in completing the Climate Superstars challenge,” said Mark Newton, Head of Corporate Sustainability at Samsung Electronics America. “Samsung is proud to recognize and reward the winning classrooms and we are grateful for the opportunity to partner with NEEF and the EPA to prepare the next generation of decision makers to help protect and preserve our future world.”
Climate Superstars is an online environmental education challenge presented by Samsung and NEEF, with support from EPA’s ENERGY STAR® program. Throughout the month of October, middle school classrooms across the country completed learning tasks focused on energy efficiency, environmental literacy and sustainability. Classes that completed at least seven tasks were automatically entered into a drawing to win up to $30,000 in total prizes.
“We designed Climate Superstars to complement teachers’ existing lesson plans on energy and the environment while remaining aligned with K-12 Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS),” said Robert Sendrey, Program Director for Environmental Education at NEEF. “The feedback we have received so far from educators has been overwhelmingly positive.”
Jovonne Focacci, a science teacher at Old Donation School in Virginia Beach, Virginia, appreciated that the program engaged students in tackling real-world issues. “We live in an area where sea level rise due to climate change is becoming an increasing issue every year,” Focacci said. “I enjoyed hearing the students develop their own ideas and solutions to problems they see in their everyday lives.”