By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
There were 159 entries in the new Water Quality Poster Contest, a partnership between the City of Hays and KSU Watersheds. The contestants worked with the theme “What’s In Your Water?”, focusing on pollutants in water that are not desirable and create the potential for water to be unsafe to drink.
RELATED: Slideshow of winning entries.
The top three winners in each age group, pre-K through college, were invited to attend the awards presentation at Thursday night’s Hays City Commission meeting.
Cell phones and digital cameras were held up high by beaming parents as the youngsters received recognition from KSU Watershed Specialist Stacie Minson and Hays Stormwater Specialist Steven Walters, and then shook hands with each commissioner.
Under the requirements of the city’s Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit, Hays is required to provide educational offerings to the community about the value of improving water quality.
In partnership with Kansas State Research and Extension, the poster contest “What’s In Your Water?” was held. Minson commended the students for their “time, ideas, and talent in understanding water quality issues in our community.”
“I feel for this being a new project that it was a success. We look forward to next year and hope we have an even greater success in 2016,” she said.
Vice-mayor Shaun Musil noted “the fourth-graders had the most participation”–61 entries–and said he hoped the students were motivated by visits to their classes by some city commissioners and city staff made earlier in the year.
“Earlier this year, a few of us commissioners went to the schools to do water education and it was great response from the kids. I thought it was very interesting, if you look at the tallies of the kids who participated, it’s the fourth graders who had the most–the classes that we went in to–and I thought that was really great,” Musil pointed out.
“It was nice to see all the winners here tonight.”
The winners received Hays Area Chamber of Commerce Chamber Checks of $50 for first place, $30 for second place or $20 for third place, and a food party for their respective class.
The winning posters, judged by Ellis County Master Gardeners, Hays Optimist Club members and attendees at the Water $mart meetings, are on display in the city commission chambers at Hays City Hall, 1507 Main Street.