Automaker Lexus has announced the launch of the Lexus Environmental Challenge, a program designed to educate and empower students to take action to improve the environment. The program encourages middle and high school students across the
United States to develop and implement environmental programs that positively impact their communities. More than $1 million in total scholarships and grants will be awarded to students, teachers, and schools. Lexus has joined with Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, ! educati on, and media company, to create the program.

The Lexus Environmental Challenge has two distinct elements: standards-based supplementary educational materials and a contest to reward environmental action. The contest helps young people apply what they’ve learned in class through the program and empowers them to make improvements in their community by participating in any of the four environmental team challenges.Middle and high school teams comprised of five to ten students and one teacher advisor are invited to participate in four initial challenges, each addressing a different environmental element — land, water, air, and climate.For each of the challenges, teams will define an environmental issue that is important to them, develop an action plan to address the issue, implement the plan, and report on the results. Teams are invited to participate in as many of the four challenges as they choose. Submission Deadlines are: Challenge #1 (Land) — October 5, 2007; Challenge #2 (Water) — November 5, 2007; Challenge #3 (Air) — December 5, 2007; and Challenge #4 (Climate) — January 7, 2008.There will be sixteen winning teams for each of the four challenges — eight middle school and eight high school teams. The winning teams will each receive a total of $3,000 in scholarships and grants. The sixty-four winners of the first four challenges will be invited to participate in the Final Challenge, where teams will develop an environmental program with the potential to impact the world in a dramatic way. From the Final Challenge entries, fourteen finalists and two grand-prize-winning teams will be selected. Each of the fourteen finalists will receive a total of $50,000 in grants and scholarships, and the two grand-prize-winning teams will each receive $75,000. The money will be shared by the students, teacher advisor, and school.Full program information, including rules and entry details, can be viewed at the Scholastic Web site.Contact:
Link to Complete RFP