Caring for the Kenai is an environmental awareness contest for high school students that provides an opportunity for a cooperative effort by industry, businesses, local and state government, school districts, non-profit organizations, environmental groups, and the media to increase public understanding of our communities environmental and natural disaster challenges.
Entrants begin with an environmental issue they wish to address and develop a solution specific to that issue. Entrants will do research, perform experiments, and conduct interviews in order to learn as much about their topics as possible. Then, each entrant, or team, writes a proposal (essay) including such information as the problem (s)he is attempting to solve, what has been learned about this problem, and the entrant’s solution to the problem.
Proposals are collected and judged. Through an extensive process of judging, nearly 600 proposals are narrowed down to 12 finalists. After the finalists and teachers are notified of their standings, they begin preparing for an oral presentation. They have several weeks to prepare for this presentation in front of a panel of 7 judges, an audience, and streamed live over the internet.
