NorKam secondary students are looking to score big with a recycling program that offers schools cash for collecting and recycling bottles.

“A lot of my students have a passion for recycling,” said Lisa Fuoco, a life-skills teacher at NorKam.

This is Fuoco’s third year at NorKam and her students have been recycling paper, bottles and drinking containers the entire time she has been at the school.

Last year, her students took part in the Encorp B.C. School Recycling Program, which tracks the number of bottles students collect and offers prizes for the top three schools based on enrolment — with $1,000 for first place, $750 for second and $500 for third.

NorKam didn’t place last year, but Marion Schilling elementary led the way in Kamloops with 11,901 containers collected, good enough for second place.

Kay Bingham students gathered 10,808, earning $544.36, said Manny Sahota, program co-ordinator for Encorp Pacific.

Fuoco and her students are already busy collecting bottles for the 2012-2013 school year. She said all the money they collect stays in her classroom, as does any prize money from Encorp.

Encorp supplies three recycle boxes, but students bring in more, often at their own expense. If anyone is willing to donate bins and boxes, it would be appreciated, she said.

Encorp is a federally incorporated, non-profit company that develops and manages recycling for bottles and other containers.