The Sidney Sun-Telegraph - Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper

Madilynn Mitchell, daughter of Matt and Ila May Mitchell received First Place in the Nebraska Association for Family & Community Education (FCE), Inc. third grade environmental essay contest. Madilynn is a student at Leyton Elementary School.

This year's theme focused on "How Can I Involve My Family to "Go Green".

"There are many ways my family and I can improve on going green. Number one, my family, and I need to recycle plastic and reuse it. My family uses plastic a lot so we can start using cloth bags for our groceries. My family already uses reusable water bottle, so we are using less plastic in that way. Number two, we can try harder to remember not to let our water run to help save water. Number three, we can turn off lights and the TV to save energy. I will really try to get my family involved, especially my dad."