North Hampton 4th-Graders Win Poetry Contest On 'Power Of Water'

MANCHESTER, NH — Four North Hampton School students gained prizes for their poetry skills at the 27th annual New Hampshire Fourth Grade Water Science Fair and Poetry Contest held in Manchester last week. As part of the contest, students composed poems on the theme of "The Power of Water." The winners of the poetry contest are all fourth-graders from North Hampton School: Emily Hyett for first place, Devin Stanton for second place, Tommy Janrin for third place, and Maddy Kontos for fourth place.

The Water Science Fair and Drinking Water Festival was held Wednesday, May 8, in celebration of National Drinking Water Week. The event drew participation of more than 400 students from 11 New Hampshire schools.

The science fair part of the festival included students from Candia, Gilsum, Harrisville, Keene, Manchester and Marlborough, Surry and Westmoreland presenting their science projects to panels of judges.

The science fair winners are: Caitlyn Bishop of Manchester for first place, Rylee Swift of Keen for second place, Andrew Downing of Keene for third place, and Ethan Anhert of Westmoreland for fourth place. Honorable mentions for the science fair are Avery Kelly of Westmoreland, and Manchester fourth-graders Nildalany Gardner, Jaelyn Hartford and Declan Manning.

As part of last week's event, operators, scientists, consultants, artists and environmental educators from public water systems, nonprofit organizations, higher education and local, state and federal agencies joined together to share their expertise with students. Students explored ways to keep water clean, conservation, water testing, groundwater pollution, how climate change is affecting water systems and many other topics.

A drinking water tasting contest matched several municipal water supply systems against each other for the coveted Best Tasting Drinking Water Award. Concord Water Department was chosen by the students as having the best tasting water.

The awards from the science fair and poetry contest were presented by WMUR meteorologist Hayley LaPoint. Trophies were donated by Manchester Water Works. The event was sponsored by the New Hampshire Drinking Water Coalition in conjunction with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services.