The Wascana & Upper Qu’Appelle Watersheds Association Taking Responsibility Inc. (WUQWATR) is announcing this year’s wetlands and wildlife poster contest, which aims to raise awareness about the importance of watersheds and water conservation for students in grades 3 – 6.
Although Moose Jaw falls under a separate watershed jurisdiction, WUQWATR is the only confirmed watershed association to continue the contest after it was cancelled on a provincial level — and students from Moose Jaw are welcome to enter.
“Moose Jaw has their own watershed, but we won’t turn people away,” confirmed Joe Ralko, the communications co-ordinator for WUQWATR.
The Moose Jaw River Watershed Stewards group isn’t holding its own contest at this time, and Ralko said entries from Moose Jaw will default to that group if they plan to hold the contest in the future.
The criterion for judging is based on a student’s level of understanding of the effect of wetlands and wildlife in their regional watershed area, and posters must contain accurate information to be considered.
“First of all, it has to be accurate in terms of the description of what impact wetlands and wildlife have on our watershed,” Ralko explained.
Ralko’s advice is for students to check the organization’s website to view some past entries and teachers can access a list of guidelines at WUQWATR.ca.
“Those guidelines… are a series of questions that (teachers) can ask students about. What do you think this would do? And then (students) use (their) imaginations and draw…”
Students can use any medium they prefer from crayon to marker or pencil to pencil crayon.
Each watershed stewardship association previously held its own poster contest and winners advanced to judging at the provincial level, but this program ended three years ago.
“We just said, ‘No, this is very popular. (Our independent watershed group is) going to keep going,’” Ralko declared, pointing to a full-class participation from small-town Bruno, Sask. as part of the inspiration.
To create an award-winning poster, Ralko offered some advice.
“Make it as personal as possible,” he advised. “What does it mean to you?
“So, if you’ve got a place at the lake or if you visit a regional park, or if you’re walking by a creek or stream, think about how wetlands and wildlife impact the overall watershed.”
The main prize is a $50 gift certificate and a pizza party for the winning student’s classroom. In second place, the class will be gifted a citizen’s science kit to test the quality of the water from a local source and they can upload that information to a national website run by the Watershed Rangers.
WUQWATR was established in 2008 when four small sub-watershed groups spanning almost 25,000 square kilometres joined together to raise awareness about the importance of water quality and quantity in central Saskatchewan.
“Our goal,” he said, “is for (students) to start thinking about how we impact watersheds, and what it means to wetlands, wildlife, and human beings. Whether they take that as a career or a lifelong passion, that’s up to the individual. We just want to spark the flame.”
Teachers can submit their student’s entries by mail to P.O. Box 965, Regina, Sask., S4P 3B2.
Each poster requires a separate cover sheet containing the student’s name, age, and grade, the name and contact information of their parent or guardian and teacher, and the name and address of their school.
For more information, visit WUQWATR.ca or call 306-946-6533.
To view the winning entries from previous years, visit WUQWATR.ca/Programs/Poster-Contest.
There’s no cost to enter and the deadline is Saturday, June 1st.
