Congratulations to Deer Lakes sophomore Abbey Skundrich who earned an Honorable Mention award in the SACP High School Essay Contest.

Abbey learned about the essay contest, which was on the topic of green chemistry, through her Chemistry teacher Mrs. Casey.

"I wanted to make a submission, because I didn't know much about green chemistry and it seemed like an interesting topic," Abbey said. "Also, science is one of my favorite subjects, so it was nice to learn more about a different kind of science."

Abbey's essay detailed how green chemistry impacts different industries like manufacturing, agriculture, and education. Her essay also touched on how green chemistry started and laws that were put in place for it. Lastly, she wrote about how plastic pollution and hazardous production processes are still challenges green chemists face in the industry.

"The most challenging part (for me) was finding reliable unbiased sources for the essay," Abbey said. "Some of the websites I was looking at were too biased against or for green chemistry."

Abbey felt fortunate to be recognized for her work. The contest is open to all sophomores, juniors and seniors in an eight state region

"I'm proud of myself," Abbey said. "Many students entered the contest, and out of all of them I'm excited that mine was chosen to be an honorable mention."