June 6, 2023 – Blandford Elementary School swept the awards in Rowland Water District’s (RWD) annual water awareness poster contest designed to raise awareness about conservation and protection of Earth’s most precious resource.
The District received 435 submissions for the contest, which has categories for kindergarten through third grade and fourth through sixth grade. Students were encouraged to create posters that depict water being used wisely at home, in the community, in recreation, in the environment or water-saving ideas for the future.
“We had an overwhelming response to this year’s contest,” said Brittnie Gildea, RWD’s Education and Community Outreach Coordinator. “The level of participation and the thoughtfulness of the artwork is proof that it’s never too early to start teaching the next generation about the value of water and the importance of protecting it for the future.”
The winning entries advance to Metropolitan Water District’s (MWD) regional poster contest where 36 entries will be selected for MWD’s Water is Life calendar, which is distributed to schools and the community. The artwork is also featured in a traveling art show, on MWD outreach materials and on MWD’s website for a week.
This year’s winners for K-3rd grade were: First place – Derrick L.; second place – Isaac C.; and third place – Max G., all third graders at Blandford Elementary School in Rowland Heights. The 4th-6th grade winners were: First place – Louis L. (4th grade); Julie L. (5th grade); and Courtney W. (4th grade), all from Blandford Elementary. The winners each receive an Amazon gift card and the first ten teachers that submitted a class set of submissions received an art kit.
The contest is part of RWD’s robust educational programming, which provides free resources to teachers as well as presentations and activities for elementary through high school that align with science and Common Core standards. For details, visit rwd.org/education.