October 18, 2007

Registration runs through Oct. 31 for Southland middle and high schools seeking to link learning with energy and the environment

Rosemead, Calif., Oct. 18, 2007—Middle school and high school students will have an opportunity to share their creative ideas to protect the environment in a competition co-sponsored by Edison International and USC.

Edison International has partnered with the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies, a unit of the USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences to create the Edison Challenge, an environmental science project competition and educational program for middle school and high school students to develop creative ways to link learning with energy, energy efficiency and the environment.

The program, one of Edison’s premier community-based initiatives, is designed to expand educational opportunities in underserved communities while carrying on the company’s long-standing tradition of environmental stewardship.

“The Edison Challenge gives students the opportunity to take a hands-on approach to learning about environmental sciences,” said Barbara Parsky, senior vice president of corporate communications for Edison International and Southern California Edison. “Students who participated in the program’s first year became environmental stewards in their communities and were exposed to exciting career opportunities in the math and science fields.”

Last year’s inaugural competition attracted 21 local middle schools and high schools from throughout Southern California. Students entered science projects to compete for trip prizes, which include a week at the USC Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island and four days at Edison’s Big Creek Hydroelectric facility in the Sierra Nevada.

One of last year’s winning schools, Sutter Academy Middle School in Long Beach, sees the Edison Challenge as a way of opening students’ eyes to environmental studies.

“The experience allowed us to learn a great deal about energy and our environment,” said Adriene Sandstedt, teacher/adviser for the Sutter Academy team. “The Edison Challenge inspired us to go beyond the traditional ways of learning.”

Each participating team consists of six students and a teacher who develop a community service project idea and science lesson plan on a topic related to energy and the environment. The teams will use the ocean, energy, and environmental sciences to demonstrate their ideas. High school student teams also submit a research project proposal. Teams then write a report about their Edison Challenge project and develop a presentation — including a poster, computer-generated video or multimedia production — about the project.

Participating teachers will be invited to take part in professional development workshops to learn about environmental science that they can take back and teach in the classroom.

Edison Challenge projects must focus on one or more of the following topics:

  • Energy transfer (through wind, ocean currents, or water cycle).
  • Energy conservation and energy efficiency (for residential, commercial or industrial users, water conservation, land conservation, recycling or waste management).
  • Environmental protection and sustainability (habitat or endangered species protection, watershed management and climate change).
  • Renewable energy resources (small hydroelectric, solar, wind, biomass and geothermal).
  • Air and water quality (compliance and stewardship, environmental justice and traffic congestion management).
  • Alternative transportation (electric, biodiesel and alternative fuels).

Registration for the Edison Challenge began on Oct. 15 and continues through Oct. 31. Final projects are due in early February 2008, with winners to be announced in March 2008.

For more information or to register for the Edison Challenge, visit www.sce.com/edisonchallenge, or call Justina Garcia at (626) 302-4135.

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Rosemead, Calif.-based Edison International (NYSE:EIX,) is an electric power generator and distributor, and an investor in infrastructure and renewable energy projects with assets totaling more than $35 billion. The company is comprised of a regulated utility, Southern California Edison (SCE), and an unregulated group of business units, Edison Mission Group (EMG). The California Public Utilities Commission does not regulate the terms of EMG’s products and services.