5th-grader gets award from President Bush

While her classmates from Riley Elementary School in Arlington Heights took a field trip Thursday to the Cubs game, fifth-grader Kate Schneider had a different destination: the Rose Garden at the White House.

The Arlington Heights girl was among 36 students honored by President George Bush for winning the President's Environmental Youth Award.

"You set a great example for people around the country," Bush told them, "and you set a great example for the government -- we're focused on conserving and protecting our environment."

During the mid-morning ceremony, Schneider met with both President Bush and first lady Laura Bush.

"It was really awesome," Schneider said over the phone Thursday afternoon from Washington. "They were both really nice."

Schneider earned her trip by participating in a competition organized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She was the winner for Region 5, which covers six Midwestern states. She will be recognized in Chicago on April 29.

"She's definitely made an impression on everyone here," said Meegan Gavin, the EPA regional education coordinator, who accompanied Kate and her parents, Steve and Maureen, to Washington. "She's very poised and mature."

For her project, Schneider wanted to hold a fundraiser to purchase more recycling bins for her school's lunchroom. She worked with members of Riley School's Community Service Club to hold an International Fair that took place in October.

"I was inspired after I saw the movie 'An Inconvenient Truth,'" Kate said. "When I saw how pollution was getting worse, I decided to do more recycling at my school."

At the neighborhood event, she sold passports to the fair, as well as energy-efficient light bulbs, raffle tickets and snack prizes, all to raise money.

She ended up raising more than $500 to purchase recycling bins for Riley's classrooms and the lunchroom, enabling the school to begin a recycling program for cans and bottles in addition to its paper program already in place.

"We always wanted to start a recycling program here, but Kate's project has kick-started that effort," said Kevin Olsen, Community Service Club moderator. "Now, we've been able to take her dream and expand it, building-wide."

Olsen adds that Kate's efforts helped inspire stepped-up recycling efforts throughout Wheeling Township Elementary District 21. And her school is holding its first "Riley Goes Green" promotion next week.