Cherry Avenue Fourth Graders Take FIRST in PSEG Long Island I Am EM-Powered PSA Challenge

This year, Cherry Avenue Elementary Fourth-grade teacher Melinda Moran encouraged her class to show how much they cared about the future of energy efficiency by answering the I Am EM-Powered Program & Student Challenge.

According to the EM-Powered Program website:  

“…the Student Challenge is fully funded by PSEG Long Island and, therefore, FREE to Long Island and Rockaway educators and students…. Even after 50 years of celebrating Earth Day, there is still much to do. …This generation can be the driving force behind this renewed enthusiasm, and can bring others, such as parents and teachers, along with them…[and] learn how to become advocates for change!”

While the EM-Powered Program & Student Challenge is in its second year, it was the first time that Cherry Avenue students were participating.  Ms. Moran and her students devoted their mental energies to learning more about energy efficiency, conservation, renewable energy, and researched how their peers were contributing to the Earth Day Network’s great hope for “a global outpouring of energy, enthusiasm and commitment to create a new environmental paradigm.”

Ideas, like sparks, flew around the classroom as the Cherry Avenue students selected topics and crafted Public Service Announcement (PSA) messages that would “inspire others to take action to save the environment.” They worked in teams of four to create their PSAs, hoping to be among three PSA videos from the class that would be submitted in the Grades 4-8 category of the competition.  Ms. Moran reviewed her students’ submissions and made the decision about which videos to send forward into the PSA contest of over 200 entries.  Then the Cherry Avenue class waited to find out how well they did.

When Ms. Moran learned that two of her students’ videos earned spots in the top thirty and would be in the running for finalist, the class was galvanized with excitement.

On May 19th, during an I AM EM-Powered ZOOM event, final notification of the top ten PSA Contest Winners was announced and one of Cherry Avenue’s PSAs had achieved First Place! 

Charged with excitement at this winning news, Ms. Moran’s entire Fourth Grade class and Cherry Avenue school look forward to hearing the PSA message shared with the community. In addition, each First-Place Winning team, along with the entire class and teacher will receive exciting prizes from PSEG LI.

Congratulations to Zachary Abend, Gabriella Arnemann, Sean D'Onofrio and Cian Murphy, Ms. Moran, and all her students for this current, electrifying news!