Every year, the Environmental Protection Agency honors students across the country for outstanding leadership and environmental achievements with the President's Environmental Youth Awards. Among this year's winners is Mr. Anderson's first grade class in Okanogan, Washington. The students at Virginia Grainger Elementary School were recognized for their project titled ``Make Soil Not Smoke.'' The class created a school garden and learned about the benefits of composting leaves instead of burning them. They decided to use their project to spread awareness about the benefits of composting and the harmful effects of burning leaves. Their project is important to a community that has experienced firsthand the destruction of wildfires. As excitement for the project grew, the community joined in by donating compost materials, garden tools, and worms for vermicomposting. In one year, Mr. Anderson's students have created over 200 cubic yards of garden compost. They use demonstrations, a parade float, and booths at State fairs and farmers markets to continue spreading awareness. Please join me in recognizing the outstanding work the Make Soil Not Smoke group is doing for their community. ____________________
On the recordNovember 16, 2018
Share
More from Dan Newhouse
Jan 22, 2026
Mr. Speaker, the fiscal year 2026 Homeland Security appropriations bill is the culmination of the hard work of our committee and our staff and provides critical investments to protect the American homeland. As a member of the Subcommittee…
Nov 12, 2025
Mr. Speaker, over 40 days after the Senate Democrats shut down the Federal Government, we are finally reopening. The result of the shutdown has been thousands of employee furloughs, major disruptions to our air travel, servicemembers going…
Jan 16, 2025
Today I rise to honor a fallen hero in central Washington. Zuza served the Yakima County Sheriff's Department at the hand of Deputy Nick Ward. In her 7-year career with the sheriff's department, Zuza had an incredible record of 138…





