The awards keep coming
Students from the Kirkwood Community College chapter of SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) continue collecting hardware. The Kirkwood students beat out semi-finalists teams from five other colleges to claim the title of Third National Champion in the Sam’s Club Environmental Sustainability Challenge over the weekend at a competition in Bentonville, Ark. The eight finalists were selected from a pool of more than 200 colleges from around the country.
Sam’s Club executives, including CEO Brian Cornell, presented the students with a trophy and a check for $3,000. The funds will be used to help fund environmental initiatives at McKinley Middle School in Cedar Rapids.
The SIFE team worked with McKinley students last fall, conducting an energy audit, installing motion sensors in restrooms and starting the school’s environmental club. The project with McKinley, earned the SIFE team the third place finish, as well as the prestigious Al Smith Special Partnership in Education Award earlier this year.
“It’s great to see our students continue to get recognized for their hard work,” said SIFE Faculty Advisor Todd Saville. “To compete with community colleges and four-year schools from around the country, and win third place, that’s a true testament to how great our students are.”
A informational breakfast with Kirkwood Community College and Cedar Rapids School District officials will be held on Wednesday, April 27, from 8:30-9:30 a.m. at Sam’s Club, 2605 BlairsFerry Northeast, in Cedar Rapids. During the breakfast the two groups will discuss their future plans on environmental sustainability at the McKinley Middle School.
The SIFE students will travel to Minneapolis, Minn. from May 10-12 for the SIFE USA National Competition. The team was one of eight to advance from the SIFE USA Midwest Regional Competition held in March.