Kentucky Students Celebrate in the Capital

Busloads of excited students headed to Frankfort, Kentucky on Thursday to attend the Kentucky NEED Youth Awards Luncheon. One hundred and eighty-six students from eighteen schools received recognition for an incredible year of energy education projects! A total of 29 projects were submitted from KY schools. From hosting school energy nights to auditing a city administration building, these students were busy. Next stop ? Washington, D.C!

Keynote speaker was Michael Winters, former NEED teacher from California, now with the Climate Reality Project. He challenged and inspired the students to continue their work with NEED to make a difference in their schools and communities.

A highlight was hearing Ray Arnold speak, a KY NEED alumni. It turns out Karen Reagor, Kentucky NEED State Director, ran into him at the Kentucky Earth Day celebration earlier this month. He stopped by her NEED display and said he recalled participating in NEED when he was in elementary school! Karen invited him to share with the students in the audience about his NEED experience and the impact it has had on his life. He now works in the Office of the Kentucky Governor.