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EPA and Local Businesses Recognize Students for Environmental Project

Release Date: 5/19/1998
Contact Information: For more information contact the Office of External Affairs at (214) 665-2200.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Star Enterprises and Raytheon Corp. recognized the students and faculty of Las Colinas Elementary School and Prairie Creek Elementary in Richardson for completing an environmental project showing the link between health and clean water, and the importance of individual actions.

EPA presented plaques to Las Colinas Principal Debbie Merki and Prairie Creek Principal Harold Havard during school assemblies May 18 and 19. Star Enterprises, which sponsored the project at Las Colinas Elementary, presented the school a $500 check and Raytheon Corp. donated a tree to Prairie Creek Elementary.

The presentations marked the schools' completion of EPA's Pledge Pond Project. The project offers a variety of exercises and materials designed to teach about the importance of clean water for healthy children, how water becomes polluted, and how to protect this valuable resource.

"I'm excited to see how much these children have learned about water - and, especially, about how important their actions are in protecting this vital resource. I hope the knowledge they have gained with this hands-on project prompts them to continue to protect the public health and our environment throughout their lives," EPA Regional Administrator Gregg Cooke said.

A Pledge Pond was used at both schools to illustrate how each person can make a difference. Students and faculty used construction paper to create a large polluted pond on a hallway wall in each school.

Children and teachers pledged to take specific actions to protect our water supply, such as turning off the water while brushing their teeth and properly disposing of trash instead of putting it down storm drains. They wrote each pledge on blue paper cut in the shape of water drops to represent clean, safe water.

As the pledges covered each pond, the polluted water disappeared and only the clean water drops were visible. The children could see how each individual's action helped revive the pond.

To help students visualize the importance of clean water in their daily lives, the displays included bare paper trees. Children wrote ways they use water, such as for drinking and for swimming, on green paper cut in leaf shapes. As the branches were covered with leaves, students could see how important clean water is to all living things.

The Pledge Pond Project was developed by EPA's Water Quality Protection Division as part of the Kids Water Initiative. The initiative focuses on children's health issues as they relate to water quality.