31st Annual New Hampshire Fourth Grade Water Science Fair and Poetry Winners Announced

PLYMOUTH, NH – Over 160 students from nine different schools across New Hampshire gathered to learn about keeping water clean at this year’s New Hampshire Drinking Water Festival, State Science Fair and Poetry Contest held on May 8 and June 5, 2024.

Academic awards were presented to students who competed in the 4th Grade State Water Science Fair and the Water Poetry Contest.

4th Grade Water Science Fair:
Students presented their science projects to panels of judges. Congratulations to:

• First Place: Kira Woodruff and Theo Parsons, Keene, for their project “Refraction.”
• Second Place: Callen Crank and George Goundrey, Keene, for their project “Stuff You’ve Never Ever Known But Always Wondered About Ice.”
• Third Place: Daxten Clay and Oliver Reekstin, Keene, for their project “Water Wheel Powered Car.”

3rd - 5th Grade Water Poetry Contest:
Students composed poems relating to the theme, “Imagine a Day Without Water (and no bottled water either!).” Competition was fierce as an additional 151 students submitted thought-provoking poems that ranged from personal to global water scarcity issues. Congratulations to:

• First Place: Miriam Talcott, Durham, for her poem “Water’s Reality.” (Two-time winner!)
• Second Place: Isaac Shaffer, Plymouth, for his poem “Last Drop.”
• Third Place: Linnea Vannette, Hampstead, for her poem “When We Run Dry.”

To read the poems, visit https://nhwaterfestival.org/poetry-contest. 

The New Hampshire Drinking Water Festival celebrates National Drinking Water Week. In addition to the awards celebrating academic excellence, students learned about the complexities of keeping water clean and managing it equitably. Students explored dozens of water topics and current issues including pollution, water conservation, watersheds, dams, macroinvertebrates and indigenous uses of waterways. Water experts from a broad range of nonprofit, higher education, municipal and state organizations shared their expertise with students through hands-on activities. All of these volunteers and organizations are focused on water issues, ensuring students receive top quality information about this precious resource and a peek into career fields that work to protect water.  

Also awarded at this event is the Best Tasting Water Award. Several municipal water supply systems compete to win this prized award. This year, Concord Water Department was chosen by students as having the best tasting water.

Through generous donations, participating teachers won raffle awards of their choice of classroom sets of science equipment and grand prizes of water well tests and a microscope.

The annual event is sponsored by the New Hampshire Drinking Water Coalition in conjunction with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services to encourage future leaders and scientists to learn about one of the world’s most precious resources - water! To learn more about these events and to read the poems, visit https://nhwaterfestival.org.

The water festival is generously supported by the following organizations:

Sponsors:
Eastern Analytical
Edgewater Strategies
EJ Prescott
FX Lyons Inc.
Grafton County Conservation District
Granite State Rural Water Association
Hampstead Area Water Service Co.
Innovation Liquidation
Lewis Engineering, PLLC
New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services
New Hampshire Electric Co-op
New Hampshire Public Health Laboratory
New Hampshire Public Works Association
New Hampshire Water Pollution Control Assoc.
New Hampshire Water Well Association
New Hampshire Water Works Association
Smith Pump Company
Statewide Aquastore
The Common Man
Ti-Sales, Inc.
Underwood Engineers
Wright-Pierce

Partner organizations:
City of Concord
City of Keene
City of Manchester
Granite State Rural Water Association
New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services
New Hampshire Water Works Association
Plymouth Village Water and Sewer District
RCAP Solutions
Town of Plymouth

For more information, contact Lara Hooper, NHDES Drinking Water and Groundwater Bureau at lara.hooper@des.nh.gov or (603) 271-4071 or visit https://nhwaterfestival.org.