Article Contributed on: 4/20/2009 12:07:21 PM
For their efforts to spread the word about water conservation, high school students from Douglas County were recognized by the Colorado General Assembly on April 16.
The Water Ambassador program, kicked off this year by the Douglas County Water Resource Authority, is aimed at raising awareness of water issues among citizens in the region, said
Mark Shively, DCWRA executive director.
The DCWRA is made up of water providers, municipalities and Douglas County government with the mission of conserving water resources.
As Water Ambassadors, high school students teach fourth graders about water conservation and motivate them to embrace water-wise practices at home, which helps inform and engage parents, Shively said.
There are a total of 160 students involved, representing Chaparral, ThunderRidge, Castle View and Rock Canyon high schools. Shively has the goal of expanding to other schools.
"If I go in there, they think I'm old and boring, but fourth-graders think high school kids are rock stars," he said.
Other aspects of the Water Ambassador program include training middle school science and social studies teachers how to engage their students about water and conservation issues and providing toilet test leak kits to fourth graders.
To continue to inspire local youth to think about conserving water, DCWRA and Lockheed Martin are sponsoring a "Out of This World" video contest. Students K-12 can enter by creating a three-minute YouTube video on water conservation.
One student will win a trip to a space shuttle launch in Cape Canaveral, Fla., to be a VIP guest of the Kennedy Space Center and meet astronaut
Brian Duffy.
To see a sample video, entry form and complete details, go to
www.dcwater.org. Entries will be accepted until midnight July 4.