The
winners of Livingston Environmental Commission’s “Environmental
Awareness Essay Contest,” held in honor of Earth Day,
were announced at the Township Council Meeting on
June 5, 2006. The contest involved the preparation
of an essay on ways to enhance Livingston’s environment
with the common theme being, “Identifying Livingston’s
Natural Treasures and Ways to Preserve Them.”
The first place winner in the High School Category
is Johnston Jiaa for his
essay entitled “Of All the Things in Livingston” and
the first place winner in the Middle School Category
is Katie Radin for her
essay entitled “Paint The Town Green!” The finalists
are Gaby Auerbach for her essay “Livingston’s Natural
Treasures," Christina Genualdi for her essay about Littell’s Pond; Isaac
Cohen for his essay, “Livingston is Beautiful,”
and Tiffany Chu for her
essay entitled “Save Our Trees.”
This contest was open to all students in the sixth
to twelfth grade levels who attend school in the Livingston.
Middle school students were to prepare a 300 word
essay and the length for high school students was
approximately 500 words. Approximately 100 essays
were submitted for the contest. Various parks such
as Littell’s Pond and Littell People’s Park, the Pete
Cilenti Complex at the National Little League field
and the surrounding area of Northland Park and East
Hills Park were recognized by the students as Livingston’s
natural treasures. They also wrote about the special
stands of trees near their schools, such as the big
tree at Harrison Elementary School, and our local
streams and reservoirs. Suggestions on ways to enhance
our environment ranged from riding a bicycle instead
of driving, to preserving open space; recycling paper
products and plastic bottles; preventing litter by
putting trash in garbage cans; preventing air and
water pollution; protecting wildlife habitat; and
planting trees and flowers.