HANOVER TOWNSHIP — The Hanover Township Committee publicly recognized the six Memorial Junior School students whose submissions for the municipality’s contest “Put a Lid on it to Keep Water Clean!” were selected as the top entries, on May 9. School and board of education officials, members of the Whippany River Watershed Action Committee, Hanover Township’s Green Team, and municipal staff joined the families of winners Jenna Geelan, Kaden Kohler, Nicole D’Angelo, Jessica Ignozza and Gabriela Brulato to applaud their outstanding achievement. Amanda Leonard was unable to attend. Her award was accepted on her behalf by Computer Science teacher Christine Fox, who coordinated with the Township to invite interested students to participate and guide them on the graphic design requirements for their posters.
The contest challenged students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades to craft posters to be used to educate the public about the role litter plays in non-point source pollution and how something as simple as using waste container lids helps keep lakes, streams and rivers clean. Two winners from each of the three grades were selected by Hanover’s panel of judges, made up of the Township Engineer, the Department of Public Works Clean Communities Coordinator, and Administration’s Community Affairs/Public Policy Coordinator. They used three criteria to choose the finalists: accuracy of the information, alignment with the contest theme, and overall creativity in conveying the message.
“Our judges really enjoyed their role, but confided they had a tough time narrowing it down – there were so many terrific entries,” noted Township Committeeman Brian Cahill, who along with Committeeman Thomas “Ace” Gallagher, serves as liaison to the local and regional boards of education. Committeeman Gallagher added, “I don’t envy the judges – it had to be difficult. Our schools do an amazing job with encouraging our kids to be creative and take advantage of ways to apply what they’ve learned. This collaboration with Memorial Junior School was no exception.”
The contest was made possible through grant funding provided by the New Jersey Clean Communities Council. In addition to giving Memorial Junior School students an engaging opportunity to make a statement about one of the ways the public can help keep water clean, it also provided the Township with needed points toward the municipality’s NJDEP storm water public education requirements. Members of the public are cordially invited to stop by Town Hall during its hours of operation to see the winning posters, which will be showcased starting May 13 in the “Storm Water Education Display Case” purchased a few years ago by the Hanover Township Green Team and currently located across from the Public Meeting Room.
