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As the holiday season approaches, the Alabama PALS (People Against A Littered State) recap the state winners of the 2024 Governor’s Awards, many of whom are Chambers County individuals and groups.

The annual Alabama PALS Governor’s Award ceremony on November 12 is a luncheon to honor those individuals, counties and schools throughout the state who participated in and demonstrated “outstanding commitment to litter control, recycling, local and statewide cleanup efforts, environmental education and volunteerism.”

In a press release from the state organization, 

In addition to the Governor’s Awards, AL PALS also presented scholarship awards to the state winners of the 2023-24 Alabama Clean Campus Program statewide competition. The program encourages students to implement litter education and recycling programs in schools. 

The AL PALS program is especially supported by Chambers County Commissioner Sam Bradford. With the help of the ecology club at Valley High School, the AL PALS program has been a consistent success in Chambers County since it was implemented three years ago.

For the past several years, the county has placed first in the roadside cleanup initiative which incentivizes trash pickup efforts for funding toward community groups. 

In 2024, Valley High School placed first in the Statewide Clean Campus program. VHS has placed in this competition for the past several years. The high school also paced first in the Clean Campus Scrapbook competition. 

As for the Posters and Recycled Art competitions, several students at Chambers County placed throughout K-12, including MacKenzie Vaughn at Huguley Elementary School, Dixie Vaughn at WF Burns Middle School and Mariana Escobar at Valley High School.

The following lists the AL PALS competitions in which Chambers County, its schools or students placed:

4 Statewide Clean Campus Winners:

1st Place Valley High School Chambers 

4 Spencer Ryan Community Connections Award: 

Chambers County 

4 2023-2024 Clean Campus Scrapbook Winners:

1st Place: Valley High School – Chambers County 

4 Poster and Recycled Art Winners 2023-2024:

Poster Contest K-3rd 

Honorable Mention – Mackenzie Vaughn, Huguley Elementary, Chambers Co. 

 4 Recycled Art Contest 7th-12th 

2nd Place -Dixie Vaughn, WF Burns Middle School, Chambers Co. 

Honorable Mention -Mariana Escobar, Valley High School, Chambers Co. 

AL PALS’s sustaining corporate sponsors were also recognized at the awards program, according to the press release. 

Those sponsors included ALFA, Coca-Cola UNITED, Vulcan Materials  Company, Honda, Alabama Farmer’s Cooperative, and The Poarch Band of Creek Indians. PALS also partners  with ADCNR, ALDOT, the Association of County Commissions of Alabama, Alabama Community College  System and ADECA on the statewide anti-litter initiatives.