Wednesday, April 13, 2011 8:36 am

SEDALIA PLACES THIRD NATIONALLY – Sedalia Elementary teacher Keri Dowdy’s fourth graders won the Kentucky competition and placed third nationally in the Disney Planet Challenge. “The kids are so excited!” she said. It’s the second consecutive year that Dowdy’s students won at the state level and the first time they placed nationally. This year’s fourth graders pose here with one of their two composting bins behind the southeastern Graves County school. The contest is designed as an opportunity for students to improve the environment, while they learn about it.

Last year’s group grew the ingredients to make their own pizza and reduced cafeteria waste. This year’s class followed up on that effort by composting and teaching the practice to others. They call themselves “The Rot Squad” and urge others to “Do the Rot Thing” about the environment. “We are so proud of Mrs. Dowdy and her students,” said Sedalia principal Robert Braden, “both because they have taught the rest of us at Sedalia so much and because their own learning has been at such a high and innovative level that they again have brought national attention to the great learning that’s taking place at Sedalia Elementary School.”