Winners of Nicor's Energy by Design Contest Receive Thousands in Prizes

Nicor Helps Hundreds of students across northern Illinois Learn about Energy Efficiency

April 16, 2009
Naperville, IL — Today Nicor announced the winners of Energy by Design: A Visual Arts Contest for Students. Nicor, in partnership with the National Energy Foundation (NEF), developed this innovative contest and is proud to celebrate its fourth successful year with students and teachers winning more than $9,000 in savings bonds, grants, and prizes. The contest was designed to bring students, teachers, and families together to become more aware of how to use energy efficiently and how to communicate an energy efficiency message. New to this year's contest materials are the inclusion of "green tips" that help save energy and the environment.

Nearly 800 students from 30 communities across northern Illinois participated in this year's Energy by Design contest.  "With the inclusion of "green tips" in this year's materials, it is clear to see by the student entries that the children are truly learning how their actions or inactions affect the environment and presenting that knowledge in their creative and artistic entries. With nearly 800 wonderful entries, the judging and selection of finalists is that much more challenging and exciting," said Margi Schiemann, Director of Community Relations for Nicor Gas.

The Energy by Design contest is aligned with Nicor's focus on programs that promote higher education as well as the company's other educational initiatives. Nicor has been providing energy-related teaching materials to schools for the past 15 years. Energy by Design was developed by Nicor and the National Energy Foundation to enhance the free natural gas instructional materials program.  "Nicor's Energy by Design contest is an additional educational tool for teachers to enhance their curriculum with a fun opportunity for students to learn about energy conservation and chances to win prizes for themselves and classmates," said Schiemann.

To enter the contest, young students were challenged to create a poster that would teach others how to be energy efficient. Contest materials encouraged students to think about how they use energy and what they can do to promote and communicate energy efficiency. Students were also asked to write a reflection about the most important lesson they learned while creating their poster on energy efficiency.

Entries were divided into three age-appropriate categories: grades K-2, 3-5, and 6-8.  In each grade category there are four winners – Grand Prize, First Place Finalist, Second Place Finalist, and Third Place Finalist.  There is also an award category for teachers whose students win the grand prizes. Prizes will be distributed at the winners' schools on various dates in April (see table). Parents and school administrators will attend many of these events, and all contest participants will receive a certificate of recognition.

All the winning entries are posted on the contest Web site at EnergybyDesign.org. The prizes will be awarded to students and teachers at individual award ceremonies.

Grand prize winners in each category won a:

• $1,000 U.S. savings bond
• Pizza party for their classroom
• Prize pack filled with fun, age-appropriate prizes 
• Congratulatory plaque (which may be displayed at the winners' schools)

The top three finalists in each category won a:

• $250 U.S. savings bond
• Pizza party for their classrooms
• Prize pack filled with fun, age-appropriate prizes. 
• Congratulatory plaque (which may be displayed at the winners' schools)

Three teachers have won $1,000 classroom grants. The winning teachers were determined based on the student who won the grand prize in each category.

The winners and award presentation dates are as follows:

Nicor Inc. (NYSE: GAS) is a holding company and is a member of the Standard and Poor's 500 Index. Its principal businesses are Nicor Gas, one of the nation's largest natural gas distribution companies, and Tropical Shipping, a containerized shipping business serving the Caribbean region and the Bahamas. In addition, the company also owns and has an equity interest in several energy-related businesses.  For more information, visit the Nicor Web site at www.nicor.com.