102-newspaper articles.pdfCupertino Patch
The Neighborhood Files
Earth Day Comes Early to Cupertino
Community members play games, win prizes and learn how they can better help protect natural resources.
By Udeitha Srimushnam I Email the author ( April 10, 2011.
Cupertino residents enjoyed an early Earth Day celebration Saturday with a festival. organized
by the city of Cupertino.
With more than 80 Bay Area organizations participating, visitors made arts and crafts, learned
how to protect the environment and enjoyed the beautiful spring weather.
The festival, now in its third year, has become one of the city's flagship events and has been a
wonderful platform to show local residents the kind of outreach and activity happening in the
Bay Area, said Erin Cooke, one of the organizers of the event.
The festival's popularity and success is reflected in how rapidly it has grown in just three years.
It hosted more than 80 organizations — up from just 25 in the first year — and relied on more than
50 volunteers — up from just four or five a few years ago.
More than 30 new organizations participated, and eight were awarded the festival's prestigious,
if somewhat whimsical, Hat Trick award. The award, in the form of a brightly painted garden
gnome, was given to those groups who participated in the event three times in three years
Cupertino Patch
Schools
Walking Wins
Students in Cupertino walk to school for a chance at an iPod, and more.
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Walking usually just gets you from point A to point B, but for thousands of Cupertino kids, walking also
earns a chance to win a free Wod.
Until April 13, students who walk to school as part of the Walk -One -Week program, which began March
30, have a chance to win a number of prizes such as an iPod, gift cards to iTunes or to stores such as
Jamba Juice.
The prizes are mostly a sweet temptation dangled in front of students to get them to participate in what
some environmentally aware students are really after —saving the environment.
"WOW is a way to make saving the environment fun," says Shailee Samar, a ninth -grader at Monta Vista
High School. "This time, the WOW program is going to be for two weeks, giving enough time for the
students to get used to the fresh clean spring air and realize how walking can be lot of fun as well. And,
of course, this helps save gas, reduce traffic and let Earth breathe fresh air as well."
Shailee is a member of Cupertino's Teen Commission, which supports the WOW program by providing
brochures, banners and other material to the 10 participating schools.
Shailee started the WOW program at Lawson Middle School three years ago when she attended the
school. The program continues with the help of the school's e-Club and members such as eighth -graders
Neha Sharma,14, and Sonali Dutta,13.
Neha and Sonali organized a poster -making party at Lawson to promote WOW and were responsible for
soliciting donations and buying the prizes with money funded by the Walk, Bike and Carpool grant
through the city of Cupertino.
There were about 40 posters up around the campus until rain washed off much of the art and writing,
leaving a handful remaining.
Each WOW event —which happens about twice yearly —sees an increase in participation, according to
Shailee, and is now at about 40 percent of the student body.
WOW typically takes place around Earth Day, but Neha pointed out that the school will be on break that
week.
"And speaking of earth, the spring is in the air, and even the rains have just stopped in time for the
students to start walking," says Shailee