For their outstanding contributions in schools, King County recognizes the following Earth Heroes for their work to protect our environment.

Award winners in the school category:

• Environmental and Adventure School (Kirkland)
  The school provides a unique environmentally-focused, integrated, thematic curriculum to multi-age classes of middle level students. Students do over 10,000 hours of stewardship each year.
  
  
• Orca at Columbia (Seattle)
  The school garden introduces all students to composting, planting, planning and maintaining a garden and is a focal point for the community.
  
  
• Two Rivers School (North Bend)
  The school has been involved in restoring one-quarter mile of shoreline along the Snoqualmie River at Tolt MacDonald Park in Carnation and planting trees at Three Forks Natural Area in Snoqualmie. Plans are underway to restore more habitat areas.
  

Award winners in the teacher category:

• Janet Charnley (The Evergreen School)
  An outstanding environmental leader for over 15 years, Janet involves students in such hands-on projects as Thornton Creek restoration and creating wildlife habitat on school grounds and at the neighborhood park. She excels at helping students learn about and love science and the environment.
  
  
• Bill Hayden (Snoqualmie Elementary School)
  Through Bill ’s ongoing work on the Snoqualmie Wetland Project, a garbage-filled, overgrown, inaccessible oxbow slough near the school has been changed into a healthy wetland that serves as an outdoor classroom.
  
  
• Peter Hayes (Lakeside School)
  As founder and co-director of the Thornton Creek Project, Peter forged a new model of watershed education which involves school and community members, including businesses, working together as stewards of their local creek.
  
  
• Bill Levin (Hamilton Middle School)
  Bill involves students in a number of environmental and community projects, including building an organic garden, sending the produce to the food bank, and having students work at the food bank. He has also instituted a number of innovative waste reduction and recycling efforts at the school.
  
  
• Maywood Middle School 7th Grade Teaching Team
  This team of seventh grade teachers integrated a curriculum that explores the difficult question of how to manage forest practices in King County given increased human populations and decreased fish populations. A community education component includes stenciling storm drains with "no waste" messages.
  
  
• Naticia Litven (Des Moines Elementary School)
  Naticia has been conducting the Des Moines Creek Enhancement Project for three years with her sixth-grade students. They monitor water quality and stream ecology and have planted trees along the stream bank to support salmon habitat.
  
  
• Gale Lundberg (Rock Creek Elementary School)
  For five years, Gale has led the school Environmental Club,whose projects include picking up litter at Rock Creek, writing letters to elected officials on environmental issues, and performing a play, "Save our Salmon," for the community.
  
  
• Maggie Wheatley (Skykomish School)
  Maggie involves her students in litter clean-ups, tree planting, composting, and using recycled materials. Through these activities, a week at science camp, and hiking trips in the mountains, Maggie teaches her students the importance of taking care of their community for future generations.

Award winners in the staff category:

• Trish Hamilton (Cherry Valley Elementary in Duvall)
  Trish has organized the fourth and fifth grade students into the "Recycling Brigade." She also started the lunchroom recycling effort, giving the school’s food waste to a local pig farmer. Trish’s actions in turn inspire the students to carry the environmental message to their families and community.
  
  
• Lynn Ronald (View Ridge Elementary in Seattle)
  An interpreter for the deaf and hard of hearing, Lynn has been a strong inspiration to kids by leading the Student Council in environmental projects such as working on the school’s butterfly garden, a registered site with the Wildlife Federation.
  
  
• Selim Uzuner and the Tolt Middle School Recycling Club (Tolt Middle School in Carnation)
  Selim set up the school recycling program by recruiting students for the Tolt Recycling Club which recycles 800-1000 lbs. of aluminum cans and up to 15 tons of mixed paper annually. Students further learn about the positive effects of recycling through classroom workshops and field trips.
  

Award winners in the student category:

• Ivana Mohar (Bothell High School in Bothell)
  Ivana leads and organizes the Bothell High School Earth Club and spearheads numerous school and community activities including recycling and litter control. Her efforts have raised environmental awareness on campus significantly.
  
  
• Bruce Heather Jr., Vicki Huggins, Sara Ladenburg (Tyee High School in SeaTac)
  Bruce, Heather and Sara conducted an extensive water quality project for a Science Fair and then continued to research water quality in their community. As leaders of their school’s Environmental Club, they have shared their findings through presentations to the community.
  
  
• Tor Pederson (Woodinville High School, ACT Program)
  Tor actively participates in the operations of a campus and community recycling program and puts in the extra effort to make the recycling program the best it can be. His consistent dedication has been a big part of the success behind this award-winning recycling program.

Award winners in the program category:

• Pathfinder School Eagle and Orca Clans (Seattle)
  The Eagle and Orca Clans have provided ongoing stewardship of Mee Kwa Mooks Park in West Seattle for the past five years. The third, fourth, and fifth graders have cleared away noxious weeds, planted the area with native plants and done stream bank restoration.
  
  
• Einstein Middle School’s Soul Salmon Team (Shoreline)
  These seventh grade teachers created the Soul Salmon Project, the culmi- nating event of two years of intensive environmental study involving their 300 students. Last year students conducted field research on Boeing Creek and this year will focus on Thornton Creek and will create and install two salmon sculptures for the Shoreline community.