Youth learn value of water conservation




WATER WARRIOR-Chase Lancaster, a fifth-grade student at Bay Laurel Elementary School in Calabasas, wins first place in the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District annual Water Awareness Poster contest. Water  District  Board  President  Charlie  Caspary,  left, presents  the  trophy  to Chase and Bay Lauren Principal  Sheila Grady. Out of 3,500 entries, 13 students received awards.

WATER WARRIOR-Chase Lancaster, a fifth-grade student at Bay Laurel Elementary School in Calabasas, wins first place in the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District annual Water Awareness Poster contest. Water District Board President Charlie Caspary, left, presents the trophy to Chase and Bay Lauren Principal Sheila Grady. Out of 3,500 entries, 13 students received awards.


Children are learning methods to protect the environment through an ongoing program sponsored by the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District.T h i r teen local students were recognized at last week’s water district meeting for the posters they created for the annual Water Awareness Poster Contest.

The posters were selected from more than 3,500 entries submitted by elementary school students from eight public and private schools within the area served by the water district. Their work encompassed a wide range of artistic approaches, from collages to pastels to watercolors and crayon creations, all centered on the importance of water-and the need for conservation.

“The posters were selected as the very best of 3,500 entries,” LVMWD Board President Charlie Caspary said. He said this year’s contest drew the most entries ever submitted in the history of the competition.

Families, teachers and school officials joined the students at last week’s board of directors’ meeting for recognition and a brief ceremony. Each finalist was presented with a T-shirt imprinted with their poster artwork, and received a personalized certificate of recognition.

Parents and teachers also received personalized mementos with the students’ artwork.

The rotating Waterford crystal perpetual trophy has been renamed the Ann Dorgelo Water Awareness Award. Dorgelo served on the district’s board of directors for many years. She died earlier this year. District officials chose to rename the award for Dorgelo to honor her work creating water conservation programs for local schools.

The trophy will be displayed at Bay Laurel Elementary School in Calabasas during the next school year. The school was selected based on the poster created by Chase Lancaster, a fifth-grade student from Mary Smith’s class, who won first place in the contest. His poster was captioned “Water is the ticket to life.” Chase drew pictures of a “shorter shower soda,” and featured other conservation messages including, “Fix the leaky faucet,” and “Turn off the sprinklers when it rains.”

“I was really excited when I won,” Chase said.

Several other finalists recognized by the water district hail from Bay Laurel. Two fifth graders from Gail Tomaszcauk’s class teamed up for the poster contest. Carly Haig and Taylor Capps created a poster that said, “You have the power to turn off the shower” and visually captured the theme with a superhero character called WaterGirl.

Two students from Jennifer Kodama’s fourth grade class at Bay Laurel were recipients of awards. Mecca Nassiri depicted water drops that state “Remember…Conservation…Good 4…The Nation.”

Evan Yoon turned a water drop into an athlete running toward a rainbow and a stop sign with the message “Don’t let water run.”

Devon Pollack, a fourth-grader in Anita Brkic’s class also painted a rainbow and other items associated with water. He wrote, “Water is the Element of Life…Conserve It!’

In Sandra Pope’s fifth grade class at Willow Elementary School in Agoura Hills, two students were recognized-Greer Shellow and Abby Auerbach. Greer drew a picture of the Earth and said “Water is LIFE.” Abby’s poster showed a tree and the world, captioned “Water Doesn’t Grow on Trees,” and “Water is Life, Conserve It, Preserve It.”

Kevin Balke, another fifth grader at Willow who is in Barbara Shannon’s and Nicole Fogelson’s class, created a glass of water with sparkling drops and a thirsty fish. A talking water drop conveys the message that “Water is worth a thousand gems. Save the drops. Save Water. Fish need some, too.”

Two students from Sumac Elementary School in Agoura Hills were chosen as finalists. Gabrielle Maddocks, a fourth-grader in Ginger Bistrow’s class, included a water meter in her art: “Peter the Water Meter says, Keep your water usage down, it will make me happy and I will never frown.”

Hunter Pearson was the youngest finalist to be recognized. A kindergartner in Linda Jacob’s class at Sumac, Hunter depicted people taking showers behind curtains that say, “Take Shorter Showers.”

Yerba Buena fifth grader Ashley Shahbazi depicted the “Do’s and Do Not’s of saving water” with a water conservation message in a water drop illustration. Ashley is in Sandy Fleishman’s class.

Danielle La Corte, a first-grade student at Lupin Hill in Calabasas, captured the theme of water-wise landscaping in her poster. She drew flowers and a smiling girl and wrote, “Stop Planting Grass- Start Planting Native Flowers- Save Water!”

All of these posters will join the artwork of past finalists on display at the water district headquarters on Las Virgenes Road.

The annual Water Awareness Poster Contest is one of the district’s many educational programs aimed at instilling lifelong water conservation practices in young people, a district official said.

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