ASHLAND, Mo. –Three students from Otterville, Mo., a small town in the center of the state, have won $1,000 for their school through the Missouri Rural Water Association’s video contest.                 The Environmental Science Department produced a one-minute video on protecting drinking water.  The monetary award will be presented to the school by Otterville city officials during a ceremony during National Drinking Water Week.
                 “They are very excited,” said Jim Enterline, an ARRA Circuit Rider with MRWA and one of the organizers of the contest. “It’s a small school and they’re going to turn out classes so everyone can attend the presentation.”
                 This is the first year of the contest, launched to increase awareness of water issues and to enhance the connection between utilities and their communities.
                 “John wanted to use the program to create interaction with towns, districts and schools,” Enterline explained, referring to MRWA Executive Director John Hoagland.
                 Towns and utility districts took the information about the contest to the schools they served. Seven schools created the one-minute videos on the topic “How Do You Protect Your Drinking Water?” Videos cited potential contaminants found in water sources, an array of federal and state regulations, human health concerns, treatment processes, and lost revenue stemming from leaking pipes. The entrants uploaded the videos to YouTube and submitted the links to MRWA. The videos were played for the attendees at Missouri Rural Water Association’s Annual Spring Technical Conference, and those attendees voted on the winner. Otterville received 50 votes                   “The attendees really enjoyed judging the videos,” Enterline said. “It really involved the systems from across the state.”
                 The contest has been a success in its first year, for both rural water and the schools. MRWA has received e-mails from participating schools, expressing the value of the experience and their excitement in participating next year.
                 “The MRWA Video Contest was a great opportunity for member water and wastewater systems to reach out to young people in their communities and help them to recognize the importance of our natural resources in day-to-day living,” Hoagland said.
                 “It’s a good learning experience for the schools, not just learning about drinking water but about communication and video production,” Enterline said.
                 Missouri Rural Water is hoping to build off its first-year success and work to improve the contest.
                 “It was a learning curve for us, but in the end it turned out great,” Enterline said.                 “We loved the creativity we saw this year and look forward to even better things next year,” Hoagland added.

###

 NWRA Homepage                              RSS Feed                                        News Archive
   

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recent News