Cowgill Elementary wins K-2 and Grand Prize in trash can contest
Congratulations to teachers Miss Morgan and Ms. Farabee and their 16 PK-1 students in Cowgill Elementary on winning the K-2 grade category and the grand prize for their entry, “Oscar will be your fan, if you keep it in the can!!” The school will receive a check for $200 for the category win and $600 and a trophy as grand prize winners.
“The students really enjoyed coming up with a theme,” wrote Farabee in their entry submission. “When they mentioned that Oscar the Grouch loves trash, we thought it was a great idea to incorporate that as the main theme in our trash can design. The students found information about Oscar, including his friend Slimy the Worm, and how Oscar has a sign on his trash can. We incorporated those aspects into the final design. We used scrap, recycled tissue paper and glued it to the scrap cardboard to form Oscar, Slimy, and the base. We found extra bulletin board materials in the school storage room and used those to help decorate with the flowers. To stand our sign and flowers up, we used rulers, Popsicle sticks, and scrap wood pieces that we received from our school maintenance man. We covered the trash can with aluminum foil that the students folded to look like a metal trash can. The students really enjoyed learning about using recycled materials and how we can help our Earth by using these recycled materials when we are making projects. This helps reduce the amount of trash that is on our Earth. They completed their trash can design with the help of the combined preschool, kindergarten and first-grade class.”
Each year the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Missouri Department of Transportation sponsor a trash can contest as part of Missouri’s “No More Trash!” campaign to raise awareness about litter and discourage littering. The contest encourages students from kindergarten through eighth grade to join the fight against litter by decorating and displaying a large trash can with the “No More Trash!” logo and a litter prevention message using a variety of creative mediums.
The winning school from each of three competition grade categories (K-2, 3-5 and 6-8) receives a $200 award. First place winners are then eligible for a $600 grand prize and a trophy. Entries are judged by a group of staff at MDC and MoDOT.
