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Hunt School Wins 2009
Texas Rain Catcher Award |
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Fifth and sixth
graders from Hunt
School, in Hunt, Texas
traveled to Austin to
claim their award
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Water is a finite
resource that requires
careful and proactive
management. In late
2007, the Texas Water
Development Board (TWDB)
established an annual
Texas Rain Catcher
Award, which is "a
rainwater harvesting
competition and
recognition program to
promote the technology,
educate the public, and
to recognize excellence
in the application of
rainwater harvesting
systems in Texas." The
winning entries are
posted on the TWDB
website for at least a
year and published in
their spring newsletter.
The winners are also
invited to Austin to
receive their award at
the TWDB board meeting,
and a reception is held
for them after the
ceremony. |
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The competition is open
to all individuals,
companies,
organizations,
municipalities and local
and state governmental
entities. In 2009, the
TWDB replaced the single
award system with three
award categories:
residential, commercial
/ industrial, and
education / government,
with the right to
establish additional
categories in the
future. There is no time
limit on when the system
was installed and when
the application can be
made; but, an entity can
only win once. |
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The submission should 1)
demonstrate how the
rainwater harvesting
system has helped
conserve surface water
and / or groundwater
through reduced
dependency on
conventional water
supply systems; 2)
demonstrate how the
rainwater harvesting
system has saved money
for the owner; 3)
demonstrate how the
system has benefited the
environment without
itself adversely
impacting the
environment; 4) display
originality and
innovation , or an
innovative mix of
existing and new
knowledge; and 5)
explain the uniqueness
of the system. |
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The Hunt school, in
conjunction with the
Hunt Garden Club and
community members,
installed a rainwater
harvesting system (with
a 20,000 gallon storage
tank) in 2009 at the
school Discovery Garden.
One of the things that
was unique with this
project is that the
project became part of
the school curriculum
and the students were
involved in all aspects
of the system design. It
was a very exciting
practical learning
experience for the
students. |
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The project team applied
for the 2009 Texas Rain
Catcher Award in the
education / government
category. The Hunt
school was notified on
February 2, 2010, that
they won the award!
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On February 17th, the
Hunt school 5th and 6th
graders, teachers Kate
Caraway and Joseph
Hennigan, Principal
Adrienne Grubb, several
parents and members of
the project team
traveled to Austin to
receive their award at
the monthly Texas Water
Development Board (TWDB)
meeting. After receiving
the award and having
their picture taken with
the TWDB, the Rain Team
of the TWDB held a
reception for all the
2009 Rain Catcher award
winners, giving the
winners the opportunity
to discuss their
projects. You can read
about the entries on the
TWDB’s website. |
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The children are now
part of a select group
of people in the state
and hopefully will
become our future
leaders in rainwater
harvesting. At a
minimum, the experience
will be something that
they will remember for
many years to come.
Linda McCall, the TWDB’s
Education Specialist,
said there has been a
lot of research that
indicates children learn
so much from “service”
projects like this one,
especially in the area
of problem solving. They
hope to use the Hunt
School Rainwater
Harvesting Project as an
example to other
education focused
organizations, seminars,
and workshops. |
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Submitted by Bernadell
Larson, HCMG
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Back to Hunt School
Project |
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