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Regular Session, 2014
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 179
BY REPRESENTATIVE SMITH
A RESOLUTION
To commend Jalen Scott of Baton Rouge on traveling to Nairobi, Kenya, to win the Grand
Prize in the Golden Climate International Environmental Project Olympiad, the
Wangari Maathai Special Award.
WHEREAS, Jalen Scott is an eight grade student at Kenilworth Science and
Technology Charter School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, for a science fair project in 2013, Jalen Scott used a hand-held X-ray
spectrometer provided by LSU Associate Professor David Weindorf to conduct scientific
research on the amount of lead in the soil at eleven school playgrounds in the Baton Rouge
area; and
WHEREAS, his research revealed that at four of the eleven playgrounds, lead levels
exceeded United States Environmental Protection Agency screening limits; and
WHEREAS, the high quality of this research allowed Jason Scott, with the assistance
of LSU graduate students, to have his research published in the academic journal, Soil
Horizons; and
WHEREAS, this publication generated national attention for his research project and
Jalen Scott was invited to Washington, D.C., where he met with the United States Secretary
of Education, Arne Duncan, Senator Mary Landrieu, and Representative Bill Cassidy; and
WHEREAS, Jalen Scott was then selected as the only United States finalist to
participate in the Golden Climate International Environmental Project Olympiad in Nairobi,
Kenya, a contest which included one hundred thirty-five student competitors from thirty-one
countries; and
WHEREAS, the Golden Climate International Environmental Project Olympiad is
a science competition for primary and high school students which promotes a global ENROLLEDHR NO. 179
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understanding of environmental issues and offers students challenges and opportunities for
future participation in efforts at discovery of solutions for environmental sustainability; and
WHEREAS, the Wangari Maathai Special Award is named after environmentalist
Wangari Maathai who was the first female African to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize;
and
WHEREAS, Jalen Scott traveled to Nairobi, Kenya in May 2014, accompanied by
his father, Sherman Scott, and his science teacher, Elkhan Akhundov, to participate in the
Golden Climate International Environmental Project Olympiad and meet and engage with
students from around the world; and
WHEREAS, Jalen Scott of Baton Rouge was awarded the 2014 Grand Prize of the
Golden Climate International Environmental Project Olympiad, the Wangari Maathai
Special Award on May 2, 2014.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby commend Jalen Scott for winning the 2014 Wangari
Maathai Special Award, the Grand Prize in the Golden Climate International Environmental
Project Olympiad.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be transmitted
to Jalen Scott.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATI VES