Winners of PSEG Long Island’s Earth Day video PSA contest announced

Winners of PSEG Long Island’s Earth Day video PSA contest announced

Jayleen Martorell and Michael Gallarello from Bretton Woods Elementary School

PSEG Long Island has announced the winners of its first-ever Earth Day Video PSA Contest. Two hundred seven videos were submitted by creative, local schoolchildren, and 10 made the final cut. Dozens of students and teachers who participated in the program watched the announcement live via webinar hosted by the company on April 22.

Over the past two and a half months, nearly 4,500 students in grades 4-8 engaged in the I AM EM-Powered Program and Student Challenge. Created by educational consultants, D. Barrett Associates, the STEM-related coursework provided lessons on energy conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy in alignment with current educational standards on these topics. The curriculum was also tailored for classroom, virtual learning and hybrid scenarios. Teachers could select and submit their favorite three videos to be judged by a strict grading rubric.

“It was so exciting to see these award-winning videos and to announce the 10 winners today,” said Suzanne Brienza, PSEG Long Island’s director of Customer Experience and Utility Marketing, who co-hosted the event. “The students’ messages of protecting our oceans, conserving electricity and using energy efficient light bulbs are lessons for all of us.”

Michael Voltz, PSEG Long Island’s director of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, also co-hosted the event. “It’s great to see how these young environmental advocates are embracing these important issues and adding to the discussion about what we can do to protect and nurture our planet,” he said. “We are very pleased with the positive feedback from students and teachers about this new I AM EM-Powered Program and Student Challenge for Earth Day. Congratulations to all of the students who participated, and thank you to all the teachers who implemented the coursework.”

Sponsored by PSEG Long Island, the I AM EM-Powered Program and Student Challenge was provided free to students in the company’s service area – Nassau and Suffolk counties and the Rockaways.

 Here is a complete list of the winners.

Student Winners Name of

PSA video

Grade Teacher(s) School District
Pavly Zaky Lilly Knows LEDs 6th Karen Alonge East Meadow Middle School East Meadow
Jacob Park

Dylan Couture

Josh Bonfanti

Conserving Energy 7th Ellen McGlade-McCulloh East Meadow Middle School East Meadow
Juliette Markesano 5 Easy Ways to Save Money 6th Karen Alonge East Meadow Middle School East Meadow
Michael Gallarello Jayleen Martorell Put Your Waste in its Rightful Place 5th Veronica Weeks
Tara Dungate
Bretton Woods Elementary School Hauppauge
Valerie Tuosto

Zia Baluyot

Cleaner Energy is Your Superpower 8th Matthew Schneck Lynbrook South Middle School Lynbrook
Nicole Marino Clara Levy Brooke Marek  Leah Anzalone Energy Conservation 7th

 

Vince Interrante Mineola Middle School Mineola
James Catania

Jose Velasquez

Save Water 8th Lisa McDougal Oyster Bay High School Oyster Bay-East Norwich
Skyler Placella Special Energy Agent 5th Diana Hauser James H. Vernon School, Oyster Bay Oyster Bay-East Norwich
Abigail Rudnet How to Conserve Energy 5th Frank Sommo James H. Vernon School, Oyster Bay Oyster Bay-East Norwich
Lena Okurowski

Sophia Lastorino

Layla Kelly

Save the Oceans 5th Justin DeMaio Bayview Elementary School West Islip

The 10 award-winning videos are available for viewing at youtube.com/psegli. Click the playlist titled “I Am EM-powered PSA contest winners 2021.”

PSEG Long Island provides educational resources through its robust Community Partnership Program, which includes several educational programs for children of all ages at schools, after-school and camp programs. These shows and programs on energy conservation, electric safety and preparing for an emergency have educated tens of thousands of children. This new I Am EM-Powered coursework and contest has been receiving high praise since it was added to the educational programming lineup.