Aurora team recognized

A team of eighth-grade girls at Bednarcik Junior High in Aurora has won the final challenge round of the Lexus Eco Challenge.

The team created an interactive, motion-sensing recycling bin called the Clean Green Recycling Machine. It helped increase recycling of lunchtime aluminum cans and plastic bottles among students at Bednarcik in Oswego Unit District 208.

The team followed up on the machine creation by educating the broader community about the need to reduce single-use plastics. The students conducted a social media campaign with the hashtag #pausebeforeusingstraws and developed an app called Eco Goals that is being reviewed for availability in the Google Play Store.

The team won $15,000 as first place recipients, bringing its total earnings in scholarship money and grants for their school to $25,000.

Team members include Jensie Coonradt, Makenna Iverson, Denise Gutierrez, Oliviette Jonson, Megan Patterson, Jessica Salins, Manya Srivastava and Ava Uthe.