Every entry makes a world of difference
Every student who enters the Shane McConkey EcoChallenge is a winner because they have thought critically and creatively about their environment and taken an action to make a difference. From upcycled art projects to beach cleanups; composting initiatives to banning styrofoam in their cafetierias; our EcoChallengers have done some wonderful things. What will you do?
Congratulations to our 2025 Shane McConkey Ecochallenge Winners
You are all Eco Heroes!
Extreme Winners
- 1st A Sustainable Future, Bellvue, WA & Randolph, NJ
- 2nd The Green Spark, Lafayette, CA
- 3rd (tied) Monarchs Matter, Great Neck, NY and Project Super Plants, San Mateo, CA
Black Diamond Winners
- 1st Project Arise, San Diego, CA
- 2nd A Taste of Home, Vienna, VA
- 3rd Sunny Lots, Glendale, CA
Blue Square Winners
- 1st Little Fixers, Big Hearts, Truckee Elementary, Truckee, CA
- 2nd School Service Association (SSA), Glenshire Elementary, Truckee, CA
- 3rd RHS Ecology Club, Roosevelt High School, Fresno, CA
Green Circle Winners
- 1st Eco-Action Club, SWEP, Tahoe City, CA
- 2nd 5th Grade Environmental Rock Band Musical, Truckee Elementary, Truckee, CA
- 3rd Up-Cyclers, SWEP, Truckee, CA
Rethink Plastics
Plant a Garden
Get Eco About Your Lunch
Host a Clothing Swap
feed your community
Upcycle Pet Toys
EXTREME 1st Place:
A Sustainable Future
Bellvue, WA & randolph, NJ
Team Members: Carolyn He, Tara Saini, Dhruv Saini
Mission:
Combat irresponsible paper usage in education and empower youth to overcome “activism anxiety” and become confident environmental advocates.
Key Insights:
U.S. schools use 47+ billion sheets of paper annually = 250 trees per high school
Paper industry is the 4th largest greenhouse gas emitter in the U.S.
60% of youth feel climate anxiety, yet only 33% feel confident acting on it
Focus Areas:
Raise awareness about school paper consumption
Encourage school-based policy change and sustainable practices
Support peer-led action to reduce environmental overwhelm and anxiety
EXTREME 2nd Place:
The Green Spark
Lafayette, ca
Team Members: Carter Considine
Mission:
Empowering youth to lead climate solutions through hands-on action, education, and partnerships. Born from a wildfire evacuation experience, the initiative addresses drought, water insecurity, and environmental equity.
Key Insights:
- Clean Water Access: Installed atmospheric water generators and filters in Oakland schools to provide safe drinking water and raise awareness.
- Education First: Built trust through how-to videos and student-led learning to support adoption of new technology.
- Scalable Solutions: Cleaned lakes in CA and IA using non-toxic methods; our film The Value of Water now educates other communities.
- Partnerships Matter: Collaborated with Indigenous leaders, alumni, and global partners to expand impact.
Focus Areas:
- Water in Schools
- Eco-Friendly Lake Cleanups
- Regenerative Farming & Global Knowledge Sharing
EXTREME 3rd Place (tied!):
Monarchs Matter
Great Neck, NY
Team Member: Cynthia Zhang
Monarchs Matter is a youth-led nonprofit tackling biodiversity loss and climate change through the story of the monarch butterfly. Founded in Long Island, NY—along the monarch’s migration path—the project began with a single caterpillar and grew into a movement.
After witnessing a monarch’s metamorphosis, the founder was inspired to act. Monarchs Matter now runs education-to-action programs that help youth and communities restore pollinator habitats, plant natives, and adopt sustainable practices. Its Raise, Tag, and Release Summer Program has engaged 330+ students, produced 1,400+ community science data points, and released over 80 butterflies. The project helped create 14 monarch waystations and partnered with Forests for Monarchs to plant 21,000+ trees in Mexico’s overwintering habitat.
Through global webinars, community workshops, and a step-by-step guide, Monarchs Matter empowers others to start local chapters—proving that a small spark, like a butterfly’s journey, can ignite meaningful change across the world.
EXTREME 3rd Place (tied!):
EXTREME 3rd Place (tied!):
Project Super Plants
San Mateo, CA
Team Member: Harper Fortgang, The Nueva School; Alyssa Tang, Proof School; Clara Hause-Stephenson, Notre Dame High School Belmont; Jade Wen, The Bay School of San Francisco; Timothy Lee, Summit Shasta High School
Project Super Plants empowers elementary and middle school students to combat climate change through hands-on environmental action. Founded by Northern California high schoolers, this initiative teaches carbon sequestration while growing “Super Plants” – native species with deep root systems that capture and store CO2 in soil.
The program features six youth-created videos that make climate science accessible and actionable. Students take concrete steps like writing to City Council, creating school rain gardens, and growing plants in their communities.
Having reached 3,200 students across 45 schools and cultivated 29,000+ Super Plants, the project inspires ongoing environmental activism. By focusing on hope and practical solutions, Project Super Plants transforms young people into active environmental advocates, proving meaningful climate action can start in any classroom.
Black diamond 1st Place:
Project Arise
San Diego, CA
Team: Sophie Zeng
Project ARISE (AI for Restoration, Innovation, Sustainability, and Education) empowers youth to protect the environment using technology. After witnessing the devastation of San Diego wildfires, a high school student discovered that invasive plants—often dry, fast-spreading, and highly flammable—are major yet overlooked wildfire fuels. To break the knowledge barrier around identifying and removing these species, she trained an AI model to recognize California’s most invasive plants with over 90% accuracy, then led a student team to integrate it into a mobile app. Project ARISE now leads hands-on habitat restoration events, community workshops, and biodiversity efforts—like building and donating mason bee houses to promote pollinator health. With over 15,000 lbs of invasive plants removed, 3,500+ people reached, and recognition from Cal-IPC, NCWiT, and local leaders, ARISE is growing fast. Through education, innovation, and action, it proves that environmental change doesn’t just belong to experts—it belongs to everyone.
Black diamond 2nd Place:
A Taste of Home
Vienna, VA
Team: Hunter Guthrie
A Taste of Home is a student-led initiative that fights food waste and hunger by rescuing unsold meals and delivering them to a local shelter. It began when I noticed cafeteria food going to waste in elementary school—and years later, after seeing a food drive flyer near that same school, I decided to act. I started baking for the shelter, but quickly realized the real solution was coordinating surplus food donations from restaurants. Despite being an introvert, I approached managers, successfully partnering with Panera, Chick-fil-A, Crumbl, and local farms. Over four years, I’ve donated 700,000+ meals. I also recruit fellow students through x2vol, and 250+ have volunteered. I raise awareness through school presentations, the Youth Conservation Leadership Institute, and public recognition like the Cox Planet Protector Award, where I directed a $30,000 donation to ReFED. My nonprofit, A Taste of Home, proves that local action can lead to big change.
Black diamond 3rd Place:
Sunny Lots
GLENDALE, CA
Team: Alfred Isagoli, Luke Scherrer, Jayden Tanner
The Envirotech Club dedicated itself to addressing the environmental impacts of globalization through the creation and management of a Greenspace—an ultra high-density urban garden. Specifically targeting the challenges posed by long-distance transportation of food, the Greenspace initiative promotes a model of localized food production and waste reduction. They successfully mobilized over 200 students engaging them in environmental stewardship and hands-on learning as well as implementing sustainable practices like composting, drip irrigation, and the introduction of hydroponics and aquaponics systems, significantly enhancing environmental education and resource efficiency.
Blue square 1st Place
Little helpers, big hearts
Truckee, CA
The Winter Coat Drive and Clothing Repair Event on April 8 at Truckee Elementary showcased the power of student-led environmental action. After researching the environmental and social impacts of fast fashion—from landfill overflow to garment worker conditions—students created Google Slides presentations and became educators, sharing their findings with the entire school. Every class attended, and even those unable to donate or repair a coat engaged meaningfully by learning about sustainable clothing practices. The event also offered hands-on community support: volunteers repaired 48 jackets and snow pants, while students sorted 200 donated winter coats by size for cleaning by Tec Tahoe and donation to Truckee Community Cares. The repair station allowed attendees to witness the power of reuse in action, and the student presentations added depth and purpose. By combining education, service, and sustainability, this event became a vibrant example of how youth can lead meaningful change in their community.
Team Members:
Rafael Aguirre Avila
Valerie A. Bautista Ceja
Franco Bolanos Castillo
Alba J. Cota Alcaraz
Lily A. Dailey
Hunter J. Devlin
Emiliano Diaz Serna
Axel Manuel Gastelum Felix
Tallac A. Hawkins
Vanesa Huizar Martinez
Luka Mora
Arianna Moreno
Axel S. Padilla Salazar
Thiago Rodriguez Luna
Alexandra C Schroeder
Wade L. Steward
Landon M. Troxel
Ivanna Vallin Rodriguez
Abigail J. Zarate
Blue square 2nd Place
school service Association (SSA)
Truckee, CA
What started as a small “Trash Duty” team in 2019 evolved into the School Service Association (SSA)—a student-led force keeping Glenshire Elementary and the surrounding community clean, organized, and eco-aware. After learning about waste issues through SWEP and enduring COVID delays, the group launched in 2021 by sorting lunchroom trash, food waste, and recyclables. With student-made posters and peer training, participation grew, leading to a PTO-funded expansion into “Operation Keep Glenshire Clean,” organizing three Saturday cleanups across Glenshire. SSA created a military-style rank system to stay organized, presented for multiple grants, and even implemented student-led training to recruit future leaders. Their impact has reached beyond campus: flyers posted to Nextdoor got over 4,000 views, and SSA has been recognized by the PTO, featured in a superintendent presentation, and celebrated in local media. As these leaders head to middle school, they’re working hard to pass the torch and keep their legacy alive.
Blue square 3rd Place
RHS Ecology club
fresno, ca
In a brilliant blend of creativity, sustainability, and teamwork, student teams designed and built vertical gardens—affectionately called “Food Skyscrapers”—using recyclable materials to grow fresh produce in unconventional spaces. A total of three dozen gardens were constructed and are now thriving across campus, offering a hands-on solution to food access in urban settings. Each garden features painted artwork with inspiring messages, making them both functional and visually uplifting. Students tackled challenges like hand-watering by developing rotating maintenance schedules, and they’re already planning to expand the project into local neighborhoods to inspire more community-grown food. Along the way, students discovered just how flavorful truly fresh produce can be—and they’re okay with the occasional “taste test” from curious passersby. Harvests are being tracked, and the project continues to teach students the power of local growing, sustainable design, and teamwork. It’s a tasty step toward food justice and environmental action, one vertical garden at a time.
green circle 1st Place
Eco-action club
tahoe city, CA
The Eco-Action Club created “The Trashcade,” a public art installation made from trash collected during underwater cleanups in Lake Tahoe. Through sculpture and education, the project raised awareness about plastic pollution and inspired community conversations, reaching nearly 24,000 people across schools, events, museums, and social media.
GREEN CIRCLE 2nd PLACE
5th grade environmental rock band musical
truckee, CA
Fifth graders at Truckee Elementary created and performed The Environmental Show, a hilarious, musical eco-adventure. With recycled costumes, student-led set design, and catchy songs, the show taught nearly 600 audience members about composting, energy, pollution, and stewardship—blending science, creativity, and teamwork to inspire lasting environmental awareness and action.
GREEN CIRCLE 3rd PLACE
up-cyclers
truckee, ca
To tackle textile waste and fast fashion, our team upcycled 20+ discarded clothing items into 8 stylish new outfits. Through sewing, embroidery, and creative reuse, we showed peers that sustainable fashion can be trendy and accessible—proving that small changes in how we dress can inspire bigger environmental impact.