Students of Mountmellick Community school were highly commended at this year’s ECO-UNESCO Young environmental scientist awards.
Over 1,000 people attended the finals and awards ceremony.
The students project was focused on tackling recycling, electricity waste and fast fashion.
This project was among 26 others competing to reach the finals of the competition.
The awards themselves recognise the work of young people who are tackling key issues such as climate change and biodiversity.
Now in its 25th year the YEA programme has reached every county in Ireland and has a total of 60,000 students who have entered 6,000 projects.
Elaine Nevin National Director of ECO-UNESCO was filled with pride when reminiscing on how far the programme has come.
She said: “Since the Young Environmentalist Awards began 25 years ago, we’ve seen the programme go from strength to strength each year.
“I’m so impressed by the number of projects and the high standard this year from students in Laois and across Ireland.
“Our young people are the heart of the YEA programme, using their passion, creativity and dedication to make a lasting impact on their communities.”
Among the successful group of Mountmellick were: Aislinn Kavanagh, Amelia Reinhardt, Carrie-Ann Derwin Lalor, Aisling Culleton, Ciaran McEvoy, Cillian Lyons, Daniel Slabbert, Emilia Traczyk, Emma Flanagan, Jensen Quigley Smith, Lara Albert, Laura Melaniphy, Lorcan Donnelly, Rachel Conroy, Roise Fitzgerald, Sophie Lyons, Sorcha Hartnett, Thomas Hartnett, Wilda Gill, Annabel Falade, Lacey Dent and Sarah Dowling,
