2016 Northern Maine Children’s Water Festival at UMaine October 11
MEDIA ADVISORY
October 5, 2016
On Tuesday, October 11, 2016 more than 650 students from 12 middle and elementary schools throughout Northern and Central Maine will convene at the University of Maine field house, in Orono, Maine, for the biennial Northern Maine Children’s Water Festival. The Festival is a fun-filled way for students to learn about the value of clean water and healthy habitats, and to provide teachers with educational materials and lessons that they can use for years to come.
At the Festival, water resource professionals from Maine and other parts of New England provide presentations and interactive displays about water, wetlands, human health and aquatic life. David Sturm, from the University of Maine Department of Physics and Astronomy will provide this year’s entertainment, a physics demonstration show focused on water.
Students will also participate in the water trivia game show, Dripial Pursuit. Our team of water “experts” will pose water resource questions to competing teams of students from each school. Students will enjoy a variety of educational exhibits and presentations including “Sea Farming in Maine,” presented by the UMaine Aquaculture Research Institute; “Vernal Pools: Cycles of Life,” presented by the Chewonki Foundation; “Bugs Down Under,” presented by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection; and “Every Drop Counts,” presented by Project Learning Tree.
This experience is provided at no cost to the participants, and the Festival budget includes funding to help schools pay for the cost of transportation to the University of Maine for the day. Festival attendance is limited, and schools are selected to attend on a competitive basis.
This year’s participating schools include:
- Sedgwick Elementary School (Sedgwick)
- Camden Rockport Middle School (Camden)
- Greenville Consolidated School (Greenville)
- Cape Cod Hill School (New Sharon)
- Ames Elementary School (Searsmont)
- Riley School (Rockport)
- All Saints Catholic School (Bangor)
- Hermon Middle School (Hermon)
- Brewer Community School (Brewer)
- Madison Jr. High School (Madison)
- Center Drive School (Orrington)
- Mill Pond School (Hodgdon)
For additional information see: Maine Children’s Water Festival Website
The Northern Maine Children’s Water Festival is organized by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the UMaine Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, UMaine Cooperative Extension 4H, Maine Audubon, Penobscot County Soil and Water Conservation District, and Stillwater Environmental Engineering. Sponsors for the event include: Patriot Renewables, IDEXX, ReEnergy, Brookfield Renewable Energy, the Maine Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), Maine Sea Grant, Casella Organics, Northeast Laboratory Services, Norlen’s Water Treatment, Maine Water Utilities Association, and Penobscot Energy Recovery Company.
Contact: Ruth Hallsworth, Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, 207-356-4828