BOARDMAN — As Valley restaurants are opening up, you may notice some colorful placemats circulating in Boardman — 3,000 of them to be exact.

The Mahoning County Green Team’s annual placemat competition took place this spring. The theme was “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Don’t Litter.” Nearly 750 students entered the competition and three of the nine first-place winners are from Boardman Local Schools.

Boardman Glenwood Junior High student Kelsie Rudolph was the first-place winner for seventh grade.

West Boulevard Elementary student Zac Caldwell was first for third grade.

West Boulevard student Evelyn Moore was first-place winner for second grade.

Students will receive laminated copies of their placemat, a $25 gift certificate, a bird feeder made from recycled goods and a certificate of award from the Green Team.

The teachers of these winning students are Dana McNight and Marcy Hughes from West Boulevard and Andrea Kratzer from Glenwood Junior High.

“These schools also participate in other Green Team activities like the ‘Cash for Cans’ and ‘Christmas Ornament Contests,'” Peg Flynn of the Green Team said.

Some of the restaurants that will be using the winning placemats are: American Legion Post 737, Belleria Canfield, Carchedi’s, Denny’s in Austintown, Dino’s, GiAngelo’s, Ellsworth VFW, Operating Engineers Hall, Perkins in Damascus, Royal Oaks, Saxon Club, Sebring VFW and Yankee Kitchen. The placemats will be delivered to the restaurants by the middle of June.

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