PRIDE hosted the fifth annual PRIDE Envi Awards on May 16 at The Center for Rural Development in Somerset. The ceremony featured Congressman Hal Rogers and Dave Shuffett, host of KET’s Kentucky Life program. Rogers co-founded PRIDE in 1997 with the late General James E. Bickford, then Secretary of the Kentucky Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet.

“Thank you for doing your part to make our region a cleaner, healthier place to live, work and visit,” Rogers said to the award winners and the 10 finalists.

“With the Envi Awards, we pay tribute to the most exceptional of you, but there are thousands more out there doing their part to clean up our environment,” Rogers continued. “There is nothing short of an historic transformation taking place in southern and eastern Kentucky. Thousands of volunteers and community leaders are turning back decades of pollution. And a new generation is learning to avoid the mistakes of the past.”

Elementary School Campus of the Year Award
Finalists:

• Prestonsburg (Floyd County)
• Southside (Lee County)
• Boston (Whitley County)

Click here to watch a short video about the finalists hands-on learning projects.

Winner: Boston Elementary School, for promoting environmental education through hands-on learning opportunities with an outdoor classroom, nature trail, wetland and school-wide recycling.

Click here to watch the winner's acceptance speech.

Middle School Campus of the Year Award
Finalists:

• North Laurel (Laurel County)
• Meece (Pulaski County)
• Corbin (Whitley County)

Click here to watch a short video about the finalists hands-on learning projects.

Winner: North Laurel Middle School, for its expansive outdoor-classroom projects, aquaculture studies, mentoring program, school-wide recycling program and participation in local cleanups.

Click here to watch the winner's acceptance speech.

High School Campus of the Year Award
Finalists:

• Foothills Academy (Clinton County)
• Magoffin County
• Southwestern (Pulaski County)

Click here to watch a short video about the finalists hands-on learning projects.

Winner: Southwestern High School, for outstanding environmental education facilities, community education projects, participation in local cleanups and unique Raptor Rehabilitation Program.

Click here to watch the winner's acceptance speech.

College/Community Project of the Year Award

Lake Cumberland Community Action Agency Head Start, for teaching head-start students in 10 counties about the environment in fun ways, such as planting flowers in local parks and meeting “Curby, the Recycling Robot.”

Click here to watch the winner's acceptance speech.

Tony Turner Volunteer of the Year Award
Finalists:

• Higgins Blair (Perry County)
• Darlene Thacker (Pike County)
• Robert Proper (Rockcastle County)

Click here to watch a short video about the finalists.

Winner: Higgins Blair, for the dedication he displays by volunteering about 30 hours a week, despite chemotherapy treatments, to transport and supervise community service workers assigned by the court to collect roadside litter.

Click here to watch the winner's acceptance speech.

Rogers-Bickford Environmental Leadership Award
Finalists:

• Whitehouse Homemakers Club (Johnson County)
• Cindy Ham (Pulaski County)
• Jackson Energy Cooperative

Click here to watch a short video about the finalists.

Winner: Whitehouse Homemakers Club, for heading up local cleanup and environmental awareness efforts, including offering a scholarship to college-bound students who volunteer in their annual Spring Cleanup.

Click here to watch the winner's acceptance speech.

Kentucky PRIDE Award

Tom Biebighauser, wildlife biologist with the Daniel Boone National Forest, for his leadership in restoring the state’s wetlands and his commitment to educating children and adults about wetlands, which are important for habitat and flood control.

Click here to watch the winner's acceptance speech.