GREELEY, COLORADO — (Marketwire) — 02/27/13 — Students in Colorado care about the health of our watersheds. Agrium–s Caring for our Watersheds contest wrapped up on February 22nd at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley when top finalists competed to win the $1,000 first place prize.
Over 55 proposals were received from Grades 9-12 students who answered the question, “What can you do to improve your watershed?” Students researched the Poudre and Big Thompson watersheds, identified an environmental concern, and came up with a realistic solution. Community judges selected the top entries to compete at the finals.
Kellie Gadeken and Hannah Meyers from Resurrection Christian School in Loveland placed first for their proposal to create a curriculum which will build an awareness of what a watershed is and how elementary students can begin to protect the Poudre River Watershed.
Ivonne Morales from Greeley Central High School placed second with a project to reduce the impact plastic water bottles have on the Poudre River by installing water bottle filling stations into her school which will encourage students, teachers, and staff to use reusable water bottles and take one easy step in protecting our watershed.
All finalists walked away from the banquet with a $1,000 to $300 cash prize plus a matching cash prize for their school. Nearly $14, 000 was awarded to students and schools who participated. Greeley Central under the outstanding leadership of teacher Liz Mock-Murphy, lead all schools with a take home of $3,690 in matching cash and participation awards. Along with the cash prizes, Agrium has also provided $10,000 to help implement the students– ideas this spring.
A special thank you to the wonderful STEM community partners who made this event possible: Agrium, Poudre Learning Center, Central Colorado Water Conservancy District, and City of Greeley Water and Sewer Department plus many community volunteer readers and judges.
For more information visit or call Debbie Tschillard at 970-356-0509.
(i) Thalweg – the line of deepest and fastest flow, marking the natural direction of a river.
The 4 student Thalweg Award proposals were judged as some of the best proposals that did not make it into the final 10 projects for oral competition. These students will create a poster of their proposal to be displayed at the banquet. In addition, they will receive funds to implement their projects.
To view a photo of Kellie Gadeken & Hannah Meyers (1st place winners), click the following link:
To view a photo of Ivonne Morales (2nd place winner), click the following link:
About Agrium:
Agrium Inc. is a major retail supplier of agricultural products and services in Australia and North and South America and a leading global producer and marketer of agricultural nutrients and industrial products. Agrium produces and markets three primary groups of nutrients: nitrogen, phosphate and potash as well as controlled release fertilizers and micronutrients. Agrium–s strategy is to grow through incremental expansion of its existing operations and acquisitions as well as the development, commercialization and marketing of new products and international opportunities. Contact us at: .
Contacts:
Poudre Learning Centre
Ray Tschillard
Media Contact
970-352-1267
Agrium Inc.
Lindsey Metheral
Program Advisor
403-225-7782