Eight Fort McMurray Students are receiving cash prizes for their entries into a province-wide watershed improvement contest.

‘Caring For Our Watersheds’ hosts a contest each year, accepting proposals from students detailing project ideas to improve local watersheds.

“The purpose of the contest is simple,” says Lindsey Verhaeghe of Nutrien, Program Sponsor.

“Our goal is to encourage students to learn about their local watershed and be inspired to make improvements to the land, air and water. With community and school support, we have seen the creativity and determination students have for protecting and preserving the environment. It’s inspiring when they turn their ideas into reality.”

This year, 118 proposals were submitted and 10 were chosen – including three from Fort McMurray students at Ecole McTavish and Westwood High Schools.

Ailene Thomas and Hailey Flett from Ecole McTavish proposed to change the lights in their school from florescent to LED, Shanzey Adna and Priyanka Gupta, also from Ecole McTavish, proposed to create a Watershed Hero Colouring Comic Book, while Neel Patel, Saptarshi Bhattacherya, Manorama Joshi, and Akanksha Karmakar from Westwood submitted a proposal called ‘Waste Wise.’

All three groups, along with seven others across the province are receiving cash prizes for their ideas.

Usually, one winner would be chosen among the 10 finalists after a five-minute verbal presentation of their projects but this year, the $6,000 in prizes will be divided and each team will receive $600 as well as a matching $600 for their schools.