A West Hartford student made the finals in the 11^th annual ‘eesmarts’ statewide student contest for creative ways to promote energy efficient and renewable energy technologies.

Third grader Talia Leshem wins 2nd place at the 11th annual eesmarts student contest. Submitted photo

Submitted

Talia Leshem, a third-grader at West Hartford’s Solomon Schechter Day School, was honored last week as a finalist at the eleventh annual eesmarts Student Contest ceremony held at the State Capitol.

Presented by Energize Connecticut in partnership with Eversource and the United Illuminating Company (UI), the eesmarts Student Contest invites Connecticut students in grades K-12 to create projects about energy efficiency, renewable energy, and sustainability.

Students in grades K-8 submitted a poster (Grades K-2), narrative (Grade 3), news article (Grade 4), book review (Grade 5), essay (Grade 6), speech (Grade 7), or public service announcement (Grade 8) on a variety of energy efficiency and renewable topics. High school students-designed a community-based project to solve an energy-related issue in their city or town. More than 700 entries were received for this year’s contest.

Talia’s project was awarded 2^nd place in the Grade 3 category. Talia wrote a story about the process of recycling paper and saving the environment one piece at a time. Talia received a $250 Amazon gift card and plaque commemorating her achievement in this category.

The eesmarts Student Contest ceremony attracted more than 150 students, parents, teachers, elected officials, and clean energy supporters from across the state in celebration of the students’ hard work. Governor Dannel Malloy was the keynote speaker for the event, and NBC Connecticut anchor and education reporter Todd Piro served as Master of Ceremonies.

For more information on the student contest and the eesmarts program, please visit www.eesmarts.com.