B.C. students square off for Terasen Gas environmental wits challenge

11th annual Environmental Mind Grind celebrates Earth Day

SURREY, BC, April 14 /CNW/ - Students across the province are gearing up for the annual Terasen Gas Environmental Mind Grind - an academic challenge designed to promote environmental stewardship in honour of Earth Day on April 22.

"We are proud to be working together with schools and partners in support of the Environmental Mind Grind event," said Elvia Picco, Community Relations Manager, Terasen Gas. "Students put forth amazing effort and commitment to learn about a wide range of environmental topics and the competition tests their knowledge in a fun and motivating manner. The Mind Grind provides an opportunity for winning high school teams and students to share $4,000 in scholarship prizes."

Elementary, middle and high school students from the Okanagan, Interior and Nanaimo will come together to compete in the game show style trivia contest. The Terasen Gas Environmental Mind Grind is organized by environmental educators in each of the participating communities, with regional first-round competitions being held around the province in Kelowna, Vernon, Penticton, Kamloops and Nanaimo.

Regional event winners will go on to compete in the B.C. Playoffs, hosted in Lake Country on Friday, May 7. As the title sponsor, Terasen Gas awards each member of the winning high school team with $1,000 towards post secondary education. Members of the runner-up high school team receive a $300 bursary.

The City of Kelowna has been an organizer of the event since its inception in 2000. Richard Marsden with City of Kelowna Community and Media Relations says, "Students and teachers rave how Mind Grind makes learning about environmental issues so much fun. We've got 26 schools and 36 teams signed up this year, and it seems the popularity of Mind Grind just keeps on growing!"

Teams of students from Grades 4 to 12 sign up in January and work with their teachers - learning from specially prepared study packages, covering many topics, including energy conservation, waste reduction, climate change, transportation and air quality, forestry and watershed health.

"Environmental Mind Grind is a wonderful educational experience that promotes the environment in a fun way. And though every team strives to win the competition, they're all winners, just by learning more about caring for our planet!" said Rae Stewart, Waste Reduction Facilitator with the Regional Waste Reduction Office, Regional District of Central Okanagan.

Terasen Gas is mainly composed of the operations of Terasen Gas Inc. and Terasen Gas (Vancouver Island) Inc., both indirect wholly owned subsidiaries of Fortis Inc. Fortis Inc., the largest investor-owned distribution utility in Canada, serves approximately 2,100,000 gas and electric customers and has total assets exceeding $12 billion. Its regulated holdings include Terasen Gas and electric utilities in five Canadian provinces and three Caribbean countries. Fortis Inc. owns non-regulated hydroelectric generation assets across Canada and in Belize and upper New York State. It also owns hotels and commercial real estate in Canada. Fortis Inc. shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and trade under the symbol FTS. Additional information can be accessed at www.fortisinc.com or www.sedar.com.

For further information: Media contacts: Kirsten Walker, Corporate Communications Manager, Terasen Gas, Phone: [phone], Email: [email protected] - Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/terasengas; Richard Marsden, Community and Media Relations, City of Kelowna, Phone: [phone], Email: [email protected]; Rae Stewart, Waste Reduction Facilitator, Regional Waste Reduction Office, Regional District of Central Okanagan, Phone: [phone], Email: [email protected]