With an overall history of 14,000 participants and 35 years of ideas, this year’s “Caring For The Kenai” winners were chosen among the 12 finalists at the CFK Oral Presentations. Across the Peninsula, more than 300 students participated in answering the CFK prompt, “What can I do, invent, or create to better care for the environment on the Kenai Peninsula or better prepare for a natural disaster?”
A broad-based panel of community professionals chose the Top 12 at the beginning of March. They searched for the 12 best entries that demonstrated the most originality and practicality in benefiting the communities of the Kenai Peninsula.
This year’s ideas include a wide range of solutions for environmental and natural disaster issues.
The first-place winner from Seward, Hannah Leatherman, took home the top spot with her idea, “Paving the Way,” which would eliminate the need to use salt brine on the roads by using a thermal asphalt mix instead that would prevent ice formation.
Leatherman says it works by nanoplatelets. “The nanoplatelets, what they do is they have their own heating additives, so they’ll release heat into the asphalt, which will not only melt black ice from the core, but instead it will, you know, like I said, eliminate having to use the salt brine.”
She was the first student from Seward to win “Caring For The Kenai” and was awarded $2,000.
The 2nd place winner from Kenai, Kyle Foster, was awarded $1,300 for “Moose Mush.”
3rd place went to Tilea Lockwood from Homer. She was awarded $1,100 for her idea “Reducing Oil the Bystander Way.”
