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Getting the word out on free water programs
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Central Valley High students Ammar Salah and Gabriel Davila-Sanchez presented their class display in the Valley Water Collaborative’s contest to promote free well testing and bottled water. The CV team took first place in the contest, winning $2,000 (KRISTINA HACKER/The Journal).

Local high school students are helping to spread the word about programs that offer free well testing and bottled water to those who have contaminated drinking water.

The Valley Water Collaborative reached out to local students asking them to create displays that advertise the well testing, bottled water and filtration programs offered for free to eligible residents. The displays will be used at public events, such as the Turlock Farmers Market and Stanislaus County Fair, to educate the public.

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Turlock High freshman Abraham Wooley presented his team’s display that features simple to read facts about the water programs, earning third place and $500 (KRISTINA HACKER/The Journal).

The participating high school teams entered their displays for judging on Thursday during an event held at the Ten Pin Fun Center in Turlock. The winning team from Central Valley High School in Ceres took home a $2,000 prize, followed by Johansen High in Modesto at second place with a $1,000 prize and Turlock High School in third with a $500 prize.

The Central Valley team heard about the contest through their computer graphics teacher. When putting together their display, the students said they wanted to highlight the free water testing and the importance of having clean water to drink.

“We wanted the person looking at the display to be connected with it and really feel it rather than just being a flat board. We incorporated items that you would use in real life, like the 5-gallon jugs, just to show that it’s kind of personal too,” said CV student Ammar Salah.

Through the project, the students learned more about the area’s water issues.

“We’ve heard about droughts, but now that we actually looked into the company, we see how a lot of people have contaminated water. So, knowing that, it really motivated us to go through with the project,” said CV student Gabriel Davila-Sanchez.

The entire Central Valley team consisted of teacher Kari Copley and students Alyssa Amador, Jesus Hernandez, Enrique Lepe, Allison Vang, Davila-Sanchez and Salah.

The Turlock High team consisted of brother and sister duo Aspen and Abraham Wooley, with support from teacher Shadi Safi.

“We wanted to keep it simple and not have too much information on it,” said Abraham Wooley about their display design. “But we also wanted to make it eye-catching and still have enough information so they understood what it was.”

The second place team from Johansen High consisted of teacher Rhoda Taylor and students Aracely Martinez, Noemi Flores, Braulio Garcia, Veronica Maldonado, Adriana Villasenor, Briana Zamora and McKenna Taylor.

“The idea for this contest came in about trying to figure out ways to get more attention to our programs. And so, I think the idea has worked because you’ve all had tremendous ideas and some displays that we going to be using. The next time you go to the farmers market you’re going to see all of these crowded into our little space…Hopefully, the people will stop ask about it,” said the Valley Water Collaborative executive director Parry Klassen.