Ohio fourth grade students win ISRI 2019 video contest

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), Washington, and JASON Learning have announced the winners of the nationwide 2019 Youth Video & Poster Contest, designed to promote the value of recycling among youth. Fourth grade students Nimisha Kasliwal and Asher Hardis, Hilltop Elementary School, Beachwood, Ohio, won this year’s grand prize with their video submission.

“Combining art and video with STEM education to teach recycling allows kids the opportunity to learn about the science and technology of recycling through their own creativity,” ISRI President Robin Wiener says in a news release. “As this year’s winners show, with the right teaching and resources, children can have creative, innovative ideas that demonstrate how recycling works to benefit society. It is this innovation that carry the recycling industry forward for generations to come.”

This year’s theme Recycle to Rebuild centered on how many important parts of America’s roads and highways were built close to 50 years ago and are beginning to show signs of wear and tear. As lawmakers are debating spending packages to rebuild the infrastructure, students were asked how recycled material could be used in these efforts.

Students needed to apply the knowledge, ideas and skills gained from science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to research, imagine, prototype and test ways to use recycled materials to help rebuild infrastructure. Then create an original video or poster that tells the story of their “recycle to rebuild” solution and how they thought of it and tested it.

Kasliwal and Hardis’ video submission describes in detail how recycled plastic can be used to build new roads. It describes the process in which plastic can be incorporated in the roads and the environmental benefits that would result. Throughout the video, “it is clear the students did a significant amount of research on both how recycling works and the many benefits it provides,” ISRI says.

“The ultimate educational experience is when students solve real problems,” JASON Learning President and CEO Eleanor Smalley says. “ISRI's contest to rebuild the infrastructure with recycled materials is real and applied. This is STEM learning at its best.”

Judges evaluated entries on the interpretation and clarity of the theme to the viewer, the persuasiveness of the message, creativity and originality, the quality of the enter and the overall impression of the entry.

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Kasliwal and Hardis were recognized at ISRI2019 April 8-11 in Los Angeles. All winners and finalists will be featured on the ISRI website. All finalists will receive a certificate, a year of JASON online access and a contest T-shirt. Entries receiving honorable mentions will receive certificates and T-shirts.