 National Rural Water Association 2915 S. 13th Street Duncan, OK 73533 580-252-0629 FAX 580-255-4476 Contact: Chris Wilson, nrwacw@nrwa.org April 30, 2009
Hardesty High wins ORWA video contest
OKLAHOMA CITY – Press play and the YouTube video rolls –
sprinklers, a drinking fountain “We have been running a PR campaign for two or three years,” explained James Gammill, Deputy Executive Director of ORWA. “We decided to do the video contest in January.” It was an idea inspired by the Minnesota Rural Water Association, which has been holding a similar contest for several years. “We thought it was a good way to get students into water conservation and water facts,” Gammill said. Oklahoma Rural Water used ideas from the Minnesota contests and began notifying schools. “We received a letter from ORWA inviting us to the contest,” said Paula Woods, drama teacher for Hardesty High School. “I teach a video editing class, and I left it up to the students if they wanted to enter.” A four-person team of Ethan, Martin, Jesse Pereda, Jade Stafford and George Todd wanted to enter the contest. Each school was allowed to enter a 30-second public service announcement to the contest. The subject of the videos had to be related to conservation or unknown water facts. Many of the entries, including the winning Hardesty video, used a number of water facts and statistics to encourage the viewer to conserve water. The Hardesty students researched all the facts used in their PSA and made the choices about how to use them. “They went through and found their facts, and they decided how to portray them,” Woods explained. Hardesty was one of 35 entries from across the state. Hardesty High School received a $1,500 cash award and each of the four participants received a $250 prize. “We wanted to provide incentive by giving a prize to both the school and the individual participants,” Gammill said. The Hardesty students, Woods and the school principal were invited to the Oklahoma Rural Water Association’s state conference to receive the award. “That experience was great,” Woods said of the conference which included speeches, awards and a banquet. “Our kids don’t get to do that often. It was really nice for them to experience that kind of setting.” “The people were wonderful,” the drama teacher said. “The kids said people made them feel like they were celebrities.” ORWA is hoping to use the Hardesty video, along with some of the other entries, as part of a Public Service campaign. “We see PSAs as a way to generate some interest without spending a lot of cash,” Gammill said. “Some of them were really good,” he added about the contest entries. The video contest and PSA campaign are part of Oklahoma Rural Water’s efforts to get information to two key groups – students and the legislature. “We are trying to get some of the new generation to understand what goes on in the industry,” he explained. Term limits in the Oklahoma legislature has also created its share of difficulties. “We are constantly trying to keep new faces informed about what we do,” Gammill said. “We want to get the information out as much as possible.” The first contest has been a success and ORWA is already planning for next year. There are plans for expanding the prizes and getting the word out much earlier. Several schools are gearing up to the next competition as well. “We got a lot of good response, Gammill said. “We are looking for many more entries next time.
“Several schools have told us they’re
planning on making this a class project and they are very excited.”
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and a flushing toilet. The scenes play
over a music track with the narration of a Hardesty High School student.
The video is the winning entry of the Oklahoma Rural Water Association’s
first video contest. 
