Northern Exposure: Students' concern for environment wins national award and trip to Alaska
July 29, 2019 at 12:37 p.m.
By Christina Leslie | Correspondent
A quest for cleaner air in a Manahawkin Catholic school parking lot led three eighth-grade students on an adventure across five time zones and 3,300 miles.
A trio of budding scientists from the All Saints Regional Catholic School-based “Team Americans Idle” were awarded a five-day, all-expenses paid Discovery trip to Fairbanks, Alaska, by the Siemens Foundation as winners of the middle school division in the “We Can Change the World Challenge.”
In a recent interview with The Monitor, the three energetic teenagers, Samantha Barton, Michael Cofone and Anthony Ricci, described their personal journey from concerned students to community activists.
Bad Air, Good Idea
“We came up with the idea about two years ago,” began 14-year-old Anthony, a parishioner in St. MaryParish, Barnegat. “A friend of mine had asthma, and with the cars idling in front of the school at pick-up and drop-off, he had a bad attack.” Realizing the noxious emissions emitted by the waiting automobiles negatively affected the Ocean County town’s air quality, he, fellow All Saints classmate Samantha, 14, and 15-year-old Michael, a student in William R. Satz School, Holmdel, formed “Team Americans Idle” and entered the Siemens contest.
The trio’s teacher mentor was Stephen Kubricki, a professor of The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey who has served as the academic enhancement coordinator at All Saints since the 2004-2005 school year. Under his tutelage, the trio of eighth graders discovered that for every gallon of gasoline burned, 20 pounds of carbon dioxide is released into the air. If unnecessary idling were eliminated, the students hypothesized, the U.S. would save 1.4 billion gallons of gasoline and eliminate 13 million tons of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere each year.
As part of their “Team Americans Idle” project, Samantha, Michael and Anthony used a Q-Rae gas analyzer to gather particulate from idling cars at school, drive-through banks and restaurants; designed a GPS Android program to warn drivers if their cars idle for more than three minutes; created brochures, surveys and pledge cards for drivers, and set a goal to inform the All Saints community what they had learned.
The three manned information tables at All Saints’ Back to School night and presented their results at local festivals. The intrepid trio also set up meetings with mayors John Spodofora of Stafford Township, Joseph Mancini of Long Beach and Michael Fressola of Manchester Township to share their findings. As a result of the students’ efforts, all three township councils are reviewing existing codes to reduce automobile idling.
The Siemens Corporation is sponsor of the “We Can Change the World Challenge,” which encourages K-12 students to develop “green” solutions for environmental solutions. Its Foundation’s STEM Academy provides more than seven million dollars annually to support education in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
A Trip Up North
The members of “Team Americans Idle” learned of their first-place finish in the contest this May. The top prize earned Samantha, Michael and Anthony a $10,000 U.S. Savings bond each in addition to the Discovery trip to Alaska. Mentor Stephen Kubricki also led a team from Pinelands Regional High School, Little Egg Harbor, to a first place win in the grades 9 through twelve division of the same contest.
Samantha, a parishioner of St. Mary Parish, and Michael, whose family are members of St. Catharine Parish, Holmdel, began their five-day adventure July 21 accompanied by Kubricki and the contest’s silver medalist team from Iowa City. Fellow St. Mary parishioner Anthony could not travel due to medical reasons.
During their sojourn in the 49th state, the students visited the Chena Hot Springs Resort, a geothermal generating plant, an ice sculpture museum and a reindeer farm in Fairbanks. After a visit to the Army Corps of Engineers’ Permafrost Tunnel Research Facility, the group took a four-hour train ride to explore Denali National Park and Reserve, a six million-acre tract of land which ranges from low-level taiga forest to the nation’s tallest peak, Mount McKinley.
Future Goals
The trio, back from their northern adventure, is about to begin high school; Samantha and Anthony will be freshmen at Monsignor Donovan High School, Toms River, and Michael is due to begin ninth grade at Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft. Work on their “America Idles” project continues, and Anthony elaborated upon their future goals.
“About one-and-a-half years ago, we contacted [State Senator] Bob Smith [D] who is known for his environmental legislation. We have worked with him to coordinate a bill to go to Congress to install ‘no idling’ signs at all school locations,” the student said. “We want to get the bill passed, coordinate a meeting with [u.s. Senator] Bob Menendez [D-N.J.], and raise funds to participate in the White House Science Fair.”
The students also plan to approach American car manufacturers to adopt technology to eliminate engine idling; similar systems are already in use in Europe, China and Japan.
A Winning History
Samantha, Michael and Anthony themselves are no strangers to the winners’ circle. Earlier this year, their project on deforestation won the Gold Medal in the Christopher Columbus Awards, earning them $2,000 U.S. Savings bonds and an all-expense paid trip to Walt Disney World.
All Saints principal, Sister of St. Joseph Jeannette Daily, proudly listed the awards her numerous student teams have earned under Kubricki’s guidance; over the past years, All Saints eight teams have won 10 national titles in science-based contests, 15 trips to national competitions and over $561,000 in awards.
“We have a rule: any child who wishes to participate in any competition is eligible to do so,” Sister Jeannette stressed. “Everyone has different learning styles; they are not just knowledge-based. Teamwork is what our society is all about. It’s a long-term goal,” she concluded.
Anthony echoed his principal’s viewpoint. “No matter how big a problem you face, you can come up with a solution,” the youngster declared. “Teamwork is important to accomplish a goal.”
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By Christina Leslie | Correspondent
A quest for cleaner air in a Manahawkin Catholic school parking lot led three eighth-grade students on an adventure across five time zones and 3,300 miles.
A trio of budding scientists from the All Saints Regional Catholic School-based “Team Americans Idle” were awarded a five-day, all-expenses paid Discovery trip to Fairbanks, Alaska, by the Siemens Foundation as winners of the middle school division in the “We Can Change the World Challenge.”
In a recent interview with The Monitor, the three energetic teenagers, Samantha Barton, Michael Cofone and Anthony Ricci, described their personal journey from concerned students to community activists.
Bad Air, Good Idea
“We came up with the idea about two years ago,” began 14-year-old Anthony, a parishioner in St. MaryParish, Barnegat. “A friend of mine had asthma, and with the cars idling in front of the school at pick-up and drop-off, he had a bad attack.” Realizing the noxious emissions emitted by the waiting automobiles negatively affected the Ocean County town’s air quality, he, fellow All Saints classmate Samantha, 14, and 15-year-old Michael, a student in William R. Satz School, Holmdel, formed “Team Americans Idle” and entered the Siemens contest.
The trio’s teacher mentor was Stephen Kubricki, a professor of The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey who has served as the academic enhancement coordinator at All Saints since the 2004-2005 school year. Under his tutelage, the trio of eighth graders discovered that for every gallon of gasoline burned, 20 pounds of carbon dioxide is released into the air. If unnecessary idling were eliminated, the students hypothesized, the U.S. would save 1.4 billion gallons of gasoline and eliminate 13 million tons of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere each year.
As part of their “Team Americans Idle” project, Samantha, Michael and Anthony used a Q-Rae gas analyzer to gather particulate from idling cars at school, drive-through banks and restaurants; designed a GPS Android program to warn drivers if their cars idle for more than three minutes; created brochures, surveys and pledge cards for drivers, and set a goal to inform the All Saints community what they had learned.
The three manned information tables at All Saints’ Back to School night and presented their results at local festivals. The intrepid trio also set up meetings with mayors John Spodofora of Stafford Township, Joseph Mancini of Long Beach and Michael Fressola of Manchester Township to share their findings. As a result of the students’ efforts, all three township councils are reviewing existing codes to reduce automobile idling.
The Siemens Corporation is sponsor of the “We Can Change the World Challenge,” which encourages K-12 students to develop “green” solutions for environmental solutions. Its Foundation’s STEM Academy provides more than seven million dollars annually to support education in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
A Trip Up North
The members of “Team Americans Idle” learned of their first-place finish in the contest this May. The top prize earned Samantha, Michael and Anthony a $10,000 U.S. Savings bond each in addition to the Discovery trip to Alaska. Mentor Stephen Kubricki also led a team from Pinelands Regional High School, Little Egg Harbor, to a first place win in the grades 9 through twelve division of the same contest.
Samantha, a parishioner of St. Mary Parish, and Michael, whose family are members of St. Catharine Parish, Holmdel, began their five-day adventure July 21 accompanied by Kubricki and the contest’s silver medalist team from Iowa City. Fellow St. Mary parishioner Anthony could not travel due to medical reasons.
During their sojourn in the 49th state, the students visited the Chena Hot Springs Resort, a geothermal generating plant, an ice sculpture museum and a reindeer farm in Fairbanks. After a visit to the Army Corps of Engineers’ Permafrost Tunnel Research Facility, the group took a four-hour train ride to explore Denali National Park and Reserve, a six million-acre tract of land which ranges from low-level taiga forest to the nation’s tallest peak, Mount McKinley.
Future Goals
The trio, back from their northern adventure, is about to begin high school; Samantha and Anthony will be freshmen at Monsignor Donovan High School, Toms River, and Michael is due to begin ninth grade at Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft. Work on their “America Idles” project continues, and Anthony elaborated upon their future goals.
“About one-and-a-half years ago, we contacted [State Senator] Bob Smith [D] who is known for his environmental legislation. We have worked with him to coordinate a bill to go to Congress to install ‘no idling’ signs at all school locations,” the student said. “We want to get the bill passed, coordinate a meeting with [u.s. Senator] Bob Menendez [D-N.J.], and raise funds to participate in the White House Science Fair.”
The students also plan to approach American car manufacturers to adopt technology to eliminate engine idling; similar systems are already in use in Europe, China and Japan.
A Winning History
Samantha, Michael and Anthony themselves are no strangers to the winners’ circle. Earlier this year, their project on deforestation won the Gold Medal in the Christopher Columbus Awards, earning them $2,000 U.S. Savings bonds and an all-expense paid trip to Walt Disney World.
All Saints principal, Sister of St. Joseph Jeannette Daily, proudly listed the awards her numerous student teams have earned under Kubricki’s guidance; over the past years, All Saints eight teams have won 10 national titles in science-based contests, 15 trips to national competitions and over $561,000 in awards.
“We have a rule: any child who wishes to participate in any competition is eligible to do so,” Sister Jeannette stressed. “Everyone has different learning styles; they are not just knowledge-based. Teamwork is what our society is all about. It’s a long-term goal,” she concluded.
Anthony echoed his principal’s viewpoint. “No matter how big a problem you face, you can come up with a solution,” the youngster declared. “Teamwork is important to accomplish a goal.”
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