Jiminy Cricket's EnvironmentalityTM Challenge host Kym Murphy, senior vice president Corporate Environmental Policy (far right) and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell, congratulate three program participants during the awards ceremony, April 8, 2005 at Disney's California AdventureTM park.

"The best part of our project was helping rebuild the homes of insects and animals like skunks, squirrels, and beetles. I learned that the world is more important than everyone thinks. It's cool to be considered an environmental hero," said Sarah Clark, an excited member of the grand prize winning class.

David Neubacher and a few grand prize winning students celebrate in a special parade at Disney's California AdventureTM park.

The students and their teacher, David Neubacher, were among more than 40,000 students from 1,300 classes throughout California who participated in this year's Challenge. Judges were captivated by the students' efforts, which included writing letters to United States Senators advocating a cease to illegal bushmeat trade and sponsoring a project to help victims of the December 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia. To further spread their message of environmental action, the class also developed special projects for each grade level at El Verano elementary school, including a tree planting with fellow kindergarten students. "We are here today to honor a very unique and special group of children. They are believers and dreamers, each and every one," commented Mr. Neubacher during his speech at the ceremony.

"The chance to go to Disneyland inspired me at first, but the project got more exciting, the more we did. I learned that even one person or kid could do a lot," explained student Sean Millward.

Mike Chrisman, California Secretary of Resources, presents a proclamation from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to David Neubacher and his class.

Kym Murphy, TWDC senior vice president of Corporate Environmental Policy and host of the awards ceremony applauded the students for their "remarkable contribution to our beautiful state," and praised "their remarkable optimism and ingenuity."

Jiminy Cricket's Environmentality^TM Challenge (JCEC) is a partnership between The Walt Disney Company and the California Environmental Education Interagency Network (CEEIN). First launched in 1994, students are encouraged to develop action projects that target real-world environmental challenges. To date, more than 680,000 children have participated in the Challenge. For more information about JCEC, visit Environmentality^TM on My Disney TEAM.

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