January 17, 2008

Green visioners take part in State of the City

By Carol Rosen
Editor

It was a bit early in the morning, but 10 children from the San Jose area gathered at the Convention Center to meet the press and receive congratulations for their winning artwork from Mayor Chuck Reed.

Almaden Country School student winners of the city’s Green Vision contest gather with Mayor Chuck Reed at a meet and greet with the press before the State of the City program on Wednesday. Pictured with the mayor are, from the left, Maren Stubenvoll, Hannah Conradt, Markus Rocca, Kelsey Morris, Nick Pombo, and Ashley Brown.

Last fall, the mayor asked children 13 and younger to submit their artwork interpretations of the city’s Green Vision Goals, and about 135 of them complied, including 35 from Almaden Country School, which boasted six winners (see Almaden Times, Jan. 11-17).

Almaden Country School art teacher Sharon Wilkus made the contest a fourth grade project. “It gave them an opportunity to think about the subject. They made their choices from the 10 Green Vision goals and moved forward,” she told the Times.

Entries came into the mayor’s office, which narrowed the selections down to three for each goal. City staff and council members and their staffs voted on the finalists said Michelle McGurk, the mayor’s public information officer.

“Part of the goal was to inspire kids about the environment. We had hoped teachers would take it on as a class project,” she added.

Besides have a special time to meet and talk with the mayor as well as say the pledge of allegiance on stage, the students had breakfast at the event. “Having the students here made the day even more special for the kids and for the mayor, McGurk said.

The winners and their goals are:

* Jennifer Huang, age 13, Moreland Middle School, Goal #1, “Going Green”

* Hannah Conradt, age 9, Almaden Country School, Goal #2, “A New Kind of Light”

* Maren Stubenvoll, age 10, Almaden Country School, Goal #3, “Natural Powers”

* Cole Bayer, age, 11, Union Middle School, Goal #4, “Energy-Efficient”

* Hyeongshin Jou, age 8, Parkview Elementary School, Goal #5, “Which World Do You Want?”

* Ashley Brown, age 9, Almaden Country School, Goal #6, “Recycle Water”

* Nicholas Pombo, age 9, Almaden Country School, Goal #7, “Me and My Family”

* Abigail Usita, age 11, Evergreen Elementary School, Goal #8, “Talking Cars?!?”

* Kelsey Morris, age 9, Almaden Country School, Goal #8, “Plant 100,000 New Trees!”

* Markus Rocca, age 10, Almaden Country School, Goal #10, “Welcome to the 100 Mile City”

Besides recognition at the State of the City, the winners each received four tickets to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, donated by both organizations.

The 10 winning entries can be viewed at: http://www.sanjoseca.gov/mayor/gvac.asp.