South Shore Foundation Press Releases

Omaha students win top national award with water ecology project

Omaha High School students in the EAST program were guests recently for an interview on the KTLO/KCTT radio show "The Talk of the Town." Shown with radio show hostess Brenda Nelson (far left) are: Omaha Superintendent David Land and students Becky Brondel, Kayla Blevins, Anna Mendenhall, and Keshia Koehn. After the interview was broadcast, their water well testing project won a national first place award for community projects by EAST groups (Ecology and Spatial Technology).

OMAHA, Ark. – Omaha High School students participating in the EAST program (Environmental and Spatial Technology) have won first place in their division in national competition for a community project to test water wells for contaminants. The students presented their project at the Third Annual EAST Partnership Conference held in Little Rock. Approximately 2,000 attended the event from 150 schools around the country. Omaha is a third-year EAST school.

The Omaha EAST students said they started the water ecology project because of all the livestock and poultry raising in their area. Working with the Boone County Health Department, they learned how to test and disinfect wells, then obtained funding of $10,000 from the Arkansas Department of Education and $6,300 from South Shore Foundation to do well testing for residents who requested it. They publicized their project with flyers mimicking the "Got Milk?" advertising campaign, but their question was "Got E-coli?" Only two of 98 wells tested had any e-coli, but about one-third did have coliform bacteria. The Omaha students mapped all the wells tested, using GPS, and prepared a report that can be shown to groups or individuals using a personal computer. Part of the project was creating training videos to help property owners test their own wells. Equipment needed can be borrowed from the county health department.

Bill Dirst is the facilitator of the Omaha student group. He said seven Omaha students presented their water ecology project report for the judges, then two students made a presentation to the EAST conference. They were awarded a laptop computer and plaque for their project. "They brought home the top prize," said Dirst. Among the judges' comments were: "good problem solving skills," "stunning amount of work to collect this data," and "very thorough job."

Omaha Superintendent David Land said he is always happy to see students recognized for their hard work, but is especially excited for the EAST students. "This project was student-directed and allowed them to design and create their own learning environment. Not only was this a great learning experience for our students, it benefitted the community by their efforts."

Winners in other divisions were:

Keihei Charter School "Windmills" (first year); Fountain Lake High School (Ark.) "Golf Course Emergency Response Plan" (second year); Lead Hill High School (Ark.) "Bull Shoals Lake Visitor Center" (more than three years); University of Arkansas at Little Rock - "The Virtual State Capitol" (outstanding college project). The Overall Best of Show winner was Maui High School, "Skin Cancer Awareness."

For more information about the South Shore Foundation and the grant application process, call South Shore Foundation Secretary/Treasurer Deanna Sullivan at 1-800-775-6682 ext. 205 or visit the Web site at www.southshore.com.