SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Dozens of Kanawha County elementary students presented their ideas on ways to stop water pollution and make the environment safer for all species on Monday.
The presentations were part of the inaugural Wild and Wonderful Water Science Fair at the Advanced Technology Center Toyota Hall in South Charleston. The event was put together by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s (WVDEP) Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) Program and the City of Charleston’s Stormwater Program.
“I like helping the environment. I think the environment plays a really important role in your life, even if you don’t live near mountains are anything. You still need wildlife to live,” 5th grader Allydia Robinette, a presenter from Malden Elementary told 580-WCHS.
Malden Elementary was one of seven elementary schools in the county to present a project in front of a handful of judges. 15 total projects were presented, as some elementary schools broke down into smaller group projects. Two students per project presented.
Malden’s was titled “Water is Life, Treat it Right.” The students examine the proper pH for sustaining aquatic life on Morris Creek. The school’s group, led by teacher Tonya Harper, has been helping the Morris Creek Watershed Association for eight years.
“We are trying to preserve wildlife in that area,” Robinette said. “We need wildlife for everything. We need to restock streams and keep the banks shifting.”
Isaiah Smith, the other leader of the Malden group, said they have been successful with getting bears and other wildlife back to the streams.
“There was a stream and it was contaminated because of the shutdown of the mine unproperly,” Smith said.
“They shut it down and when it would rain, it would seep through the ground and it would pull the chemicals into the water. The trout and other wildlife in the water would start dying and the bears wouldn’t have anything to eat.”
Other elementary schools participating are Piedmont, Lakewood, Chesapeake, Bridgeview, Marmet, and Mary Ingles.
In a Monday evening event open to the public, three projects will be awarded a money prize, medals and a trophy. In addition to $250, the winning class will receive a trophy and individual medals. The second-place winner will receive $150 and third-place $100.
Smith said it’s much more important than the prizes and medals.
“If we don’t take care of water now then later in life when we have no more water, where is it going to come from? It’s all going to be contaminated with all kinds of chemicals inside the water and it won’t be drinkable,” he said.
Story by Jake Flatley