La Jolla High School senior Austin Miller walked to the front of his science class last Friday afternoon, where a man wearing a suit waited for him.
“I thought I was in trouble,” Miller said. “I was already in the office and I got called back to class.”
But Miller wasn’t in trouble that day. He stood inside Martin Teachworth’s classroom, adorned with NASA stickers and space shuttle posters. While his classmates stared at him, Miller squirmed as Dennis McVey of Johnson Controls and Phillips “” the man in the suit “” announced that Miller had won a state contest for a rap song he produced.
A surprised Miller won an MP3 player for his rap song, which emphasizes energy conservation, and a check for $1,000 for the school to spend.
“Austin’s goal is to motivate his generation to become environmentally conscious,” said a JCP press release. “Austin is California’s winner of the state Igniting Creative Energy Challenge, an educational competition sponsored by Johnson Controls that encourages North American students to develop ingenious ways to conserve energy and protect the environment.”
And Miller was a good sport. His mother Terry Miller ran into Teachworth’s class to greet her son. Officials called her classroom two weeks ago, but she was forced to keep the news a secret.
“I’m never absent, but I took off from school today,” Terry Miller said. “I’m proud I kept it a secret.”
Miller said it was a fun project and he was inspired. His song talks about ways to conserve energy, including shutting lights shut off and restricting water usage.
“I feel pretty honored,” said Miller, who added that he practices what he raps “” usually. “I forget to turn lights off sometimes, but my mom reminds me.”
And when he saw his mom walk into his science class, Miller said he was surprised.
“I thought it’s gonna look goofy, but I’m happy to have a mom who supports me,” he said.
As a proud student of La Jolla High School, he said he’s just happy to contribute the money he won, especially with the state’s budget cuts.
“Any money dedicated to the school in my name is great,” Miller said.
“We’re very proud of Austin and the work that he’s done,” LJHS Principal Dana Shelburne said.
Now-a-days gas is coming in by the barrel
$100 dollars a shipment putting our economy in peril
You see Al Gore talking about his Inconvenient Truth
But the safety of our world is dependent on our youth …
” from “Saving the World One Rhyme at a Time” by Austin Miller
For more information about the organization, go to www.ignitingcreativeenergy.org, www.johnsoncontrols.com or www.philips.com/newscenter.