Date: May 13, 2001
Source: Lexington Herald-Leader
Power company, 3 schools receive awards from PRIDE
HERALD-LEADER STAFF REPORT
What do a Backstreet Boy, a power company and three groups of schoolchildren have in common?
They were among the winners announced yesterday during the first Envi Awards ceremony in Somerset. The awards are sponsored by PRIDE, or Personal Responsibility in a Desirable Environment.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Christine Todd Whitman was on hand to help honor the winners, which included:
n Backstreet Boy Kevin Richardson won for establishing a foundation, Just Within Reach, last year to help clean up the environment. The Lexington native was named the first recipient of the Kentucky PRIDE Award.
n East Kentucky Power Cooperative won for its environmental protection and education programs and for its support in helping establish PRIDE in 1997. East Kentucky Power was presented the Rogers-Bickford Environmental Leadership Award.
n Menifee County PRIDE Coordinator Carolyn Ingram was named Volunteer of the Year. Ingram helped bring in thousands of dollars over the years to help clean up her county.
n Johns Creek School in Pike County won in the elementary school division for developing an outdoor classroom and integrating it into all aspects of the curriculum.
n A.J. Lloyd Middle School in Wayne County was honored for its outdoor classroom, also. Students at the school also have established a schoolwide PRIDE club.
n Williamsburg High School won because since 1997, more than 1,600 bags of trash have been collected and more then 65 miles of road cleaned through student efforts. The students also have built a nature trail designed to protect endangered plants from extinction.
From the Louisville Courier-Journal
Kevin Richardson of the Backstreet Boys, who grew up in Estill County, has won the Kentucky PRIDE award for creating a foundation that focuses on environmental issue in the state.
The foundation Just Within Reach, is intended to encourage people to have a sense of personal responsibility toward the environment, which also is the purpose of PRIDE -- Personal Responsibility in a Desired Environment -- a regional organization that is helping to clear the Appalachian region of illegal garbage dumps, said Ellen Gregory, a spokeswoman for PRIDE.
Campus of the year awards went to Johns Creek School in Pike County, A.J. Loyd Middle School in Wayne County, and Williamsburg High School in Whitley County for environmental education programs and for cleaning up trash.