Two Philadelphia schools have won a region-wide competition competing with 45 schools from Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania to receive the Environmental Community Service Award and a $5,000 grant to further their studies.

W.B. Saul High School of Agricultural Sciences is the high school winner and the Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander University of Pennsylvania Partnership School is the middle school winner.

Wawa, NBC 10 and the environmental law firm of Manko, Gold, Katcher & Fox, LLP are the sponsors of this area-wide competition that asked schools to nominate environmental community service programs that demonstrate a "Connection to the Community."

W.B. Saul High School was honored for removing the lead from the lawn of Miss Ruth Battle, 84. They developed a Community Phyto-Remediation Project and studied how to remediate this residential lawn. This project teaches students how to determine toxicity levels within the soil and use phyto-remediation, a process used to decontaminate polluted soil, to decrease traces of lead and return the soil back to acceptable levels.

The Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander University of Pennsylvania Partnership School was selected for its efforts to restore the grounds surrounding their school on a 4.3 acre Urban Arboretum. Students and teachers have been working to create an outdoor classroom where they study storm water management and much more. This is also a resource to the West Philadelphia neighbors.

For more information on the award, visit the Environmental Community Service Award webpage.

4/20/2007