Students from Explorer West Middle School in West Seattle won $1000 from the Washington Foundation for the Environment, which they will donate to charity, for their winning "Drastic Plastic" presentation at the 3rd Annual Great Environmental Issues Slam held at the flagship REI store on April 24.

EW students will vote on which non-profit receives their $1000 soon.

Here are the details from a proud Explorer West staff and community:

The Explorer West Middle School community congratulates the three groups of students chosen to represent Explorer West at Washington Foundation for the Environment's “3rd Annual Great Environmental Issues Slam” on Wednesday, April 24th at The Flagship REI Store. The 6 students (across three teams) had 5 minutes to present their issues to a packed room of audience members who voted at the end for their favorite. The other contestants were all talented, adult speakers from a range of non-profits.

One of the student teams, presenting on "Drastic Plastic," won the slam and the opportunity to donate $1,000 to the charity of their choice that is working to deal with the issue of plastics in our world's oceans. Explorer West students will be voting to decide which non-profit receives the donation from Washington Foundation for the Environment.

At the end of the event, the winning team of students was invited by Sound Experience (www.soundexp.org), an educational sailing organization that is focusing on educating schools about plastic pollution in Puget Sound, to participate in some plastic clean-up on board their vessel.

Learn more about Explorer West Middle School: www.explorer-west.org

Find out what is going on at Washington Foundation for the Environment: www.wffe.org