Winners announced in Clean Tahoe and Jamie Anderson essay contest

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Clean Tahoe program recently teamed up with Olympic gold medalist, and South Lake Tahoe native, Jamie Anderson to hold an essay contest for local youth.

Anderson was joined by a local teacher and writer to be the judges and read through all of the 30 entries. They said it was a tough choice but they were able to narrow them down to three winners and five honorable mention awards.

The contest winners:

High School Winner - Mandy Monroe - 12th Grade
Honorable Mention - Graye DeLise - 11th Grade

Middle School Winner - Martina Navarrete - 7th Grade
Honorable Mention - Rose Fredrich - 8th Grade, Diem Josie Johnson-Ricotta - 6th grade

Elementary School Winner - Aliana Morse - 5th Grade
Honorable Mention - Zuma Dergoot - 5th Grade, Emily Goldstein - 4th Grade

Of the 30 submissions, 17 were elementary age, seven middle schoolers and six in the high school age group.

The winners were awarded cash prized. All participants will be awarded beanies and swag from Jamie's sponsors. Each student that submitted also received a response highlighting what was liked most about their submission and encouragement to continue developing the solutions and ideas they set forth in their writing.

The contest for the students to write a story about how the world got to have no waste and what it is like to be in that world in the year 3030. Consider the systematic changes and product innovations that allowed for the elimination of solid waste. Describe what this new world looks like, smells like, feels like, sounds like, and tastes like.