With a new mayor and new Project Front Yard coordinator taking over since last year's awards, the momentum hasn't been lost, and a new group of passionate volunteers were recognized for their efforts in beautification, cleanliness and education.
(Special shoutout to Blake Lagneaux for creating these fantastic awards!)
To kick off the awards, honorary Cajun certificates were given to Charlie and Jan Wyatt, longtime pioneers for environmental quality and beautification in Acadiana. They are moving out of state, but Project Front Yard wanted to recognize them for everything they've done. Charlie and Jan are also winners of the first annual Project Front Yard awards along with myself, and I'm so proud of my fellow alums!
St. Thomas More teachers and coaches Lance Strother and Cristy Savoie earned the Best In Cleanliness award for their organization of high school students in the days after the flood. The students used their time off to assist neighbors and strangers in cleaning out their homes of damaged items.
June Faul, chairwoman of Scenic Lafayette, earned the award for Best in Beautification. Late last year and early this year, Scenic Lafayette worked with volunteers to revitalize and plant along the historic Azalea Trail.
Jeremy Broussard, Levi Kastner and Peggy Grace won Best in Education for their spearheading and support of the second annual Project Front Yard Plastic Bag Roundup. (Get the results of that roundup in this post from May!)
And for the Best Overall Effort, CGI won a Golden Gnome! Members of the company have been very involved in e-waste recycling initiatives and promoting sustainability, recycling and cleanliness at Festival International, making a huge impact on the community.
Skyra also made an announcement following last week's Keep Louisiana Beautiful conference. In coordination with Project Front Yard, Louisiana schools will be able to implement a new curriculum educating students on the importance of sustainability and recycling. The lessons will integrate into science classes, and teachers are encouraged to request the curriculum for their students.
As Skyra reiterated, it's extremely important to begin education when students are young in order to build those responsible habits and connection to their responsibility in our environment.
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