2013-02-28 01:12:24 -

GREELEY, COLORADO -- (Marketwire) -- 02/28/13 --


Students in Colorado care about the health of our watersheds. Agrium's Caring for our Watersheds contest wrapped up on February 22nd at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley when top finalists competed to win the $1,000 first place prize.


Over 55 proposals were received from Grades 9-12 students who answered the question, "What can you do to improve your watershed?" Students researched the Poudre and Big Thompson watersheds, identified an environmental concern, and came up with a realistic solution. Community judges selected the top entries to compete at the finals.


Kellie Gadeken and Hannah Meyers from Resurrection Christian School in Loveland placed first for their proposal to create a curriculum which will build an awareness of what a watershed is and how elementary students can begin to protect the Poudre River Watershed.


Ivonne Morales from Greeley Central High School placed second with a project to reduce the impact plastic water bottles have on the Poudre River by installing water bottle filling stations into her school which will encourage students, teachers, and staff to use reusable water bottles and take one easy step in protecting our watershed.


All finalists walked away from the banquet with a $1,000 to $300 cash prize plus a matching cash prize for their school. Nearly $14, 000 was awarded to students and schools who participated. Greeley Central under the outstanding leadership of teacher Liz Mock-Murphy, lead all schools with a take home of $3,690 in matching cash and participation awards. Along with the cash prizes, Agrium has also provided $10,000 to help implement the students' ideas this spring.



A special thank you to the wonderful STEM community partners who made this event possible: Agrium, Poudre Learning Center, Central Colorado Water Conservancy District, and City of Greeley Water and Sewer Department plus many community volunteer readers and judges.


For more information visit www.CaringForOurWatersheds.com : www.CaringForOurWatersheds.com or call Debbie Tschillard at 970-356-0509.

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                                                     Teacher          Mentor
Place  Award    Project Name        Students     High School         Company
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                                             Caroline Yonker                
                                                           &                
                                                Jane Radford Natalie Stevens
                   Watershed Kellie Gadeken     Resurrection City of Greeley
1     $1,000        Warriors   Hannah Meyers       Christian           Water
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                                                                  Ruth Quade
                                             Liz Mock-Murphy City of Greeley
2     $900    Easy Peasy H20  Ivonne Morales Greeley Central           Water
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                              Tanner Herrick                      Ruth Quade
            Truth Behind the Jesus D. Garcia Liz Mock-Murphy City of Greeley
3     $800            Throne           Ramos Greeley Central           Water
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                  Cathy Hoyt      Chuck Call
               Composting in      Lila Dong     Union Colony Poudre Learning
4     $700     the Classroom     Faith Sears            Prep          Center
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               Bringing Back                                                
               the Buzz - We                                                
             Need Bumblebees  Addy Neibauer,                 Paulette Weaver
                 Back in Our    Jazmin Vega, Liz Mock-Murphy Poudre Learning
5     $600         Watershed    Colista West Greeley Central          Center
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                   Stephanie
                             Brendan Scheidt                         Simmons
              Cancer Plates,         Brendon Liz Mock-Murphy Poudre Learning
6     $500     Costly Plates      Wooldridge Greeley Central          Center
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             Caroline Yonker                
                    No Gnats                               &                
                    Allowed-   Darcy Bolders    Jane Radford                
                   Improving        Makenzie    Resurrection       Kim Frick
7     $450         Recycling      Richardson       Christian   Tri Districts
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Switching Bus                                       Bill Hoyt
            Fleet to Natural                 Vanessa McCowin     U. Northern
8     $400               Gas    Hailee Starr       Roosevelt        Colorado
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                        Thom
                                                                D'Albergaria
                                             Liz Mock-Murphy Poudre Learning
9     $350     Overabundance      Leesa Loos Greeley Central          Center
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            Briana Carneski-                     Kaye Holman
                  Stormwater            Gore      Lisa Pitot  Colorado State
10    $300          Solution  Lily Puchalsky    Fossil Ridge              U.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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THALWEG AWARDS(i)                                                           
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Francisco Alvarado Vega                           
                          Ricardo Vazquez & Rachel Liz Mock-Murphy          
Air to Save the Day       Myers                    Greeley Central          
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                   Heidi Lanning &          
Importance Of Buying And  Meagan VanBriggle        Brittney Wright          
Growing Produce Locally   Cindy Stilo & Erin CarneyEaton                    
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Nathan Ruebesam          Kristal Domenico         
Sanitizer Solution        Austin Bending           Berthoud                 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shower Heads Saving the                            Zach Armstrong           
Watershed                 David Pascal             Greeley West             
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(i) Thalweg - the line of deepest and fastest flow, marking the natural direction of a river.


The 4 student Thalweg Award proposals were judged as some of the best proposals that did not make it into the final 10 projects for oral competition. These students will create a poster of their proposal to be displayed at the banquet. In addition, they will receive funds to implement their projects.


To view a photo of Kellie Gadeken & Hannah Meyers (1st place winners), click the following link: media3.marketwire.com/docs/kandh.jpg : media3.marketwire.com/docs/kandh.jpg

To view a photo of Ivonne Morales (2nd place winner), click the following link: media3.marketwire.com/docs/Ivom.jpg : media3.marketwire.com/docs/Ivom.jpg

About Agrium:


Agrium Inc. is a major retail supplier of agricultural products and services in Australia and North and South America and a leading global producer and marketer of agricultural nutrients and industrial products. Agrium produces and markets three primary groups of nutrients: nitrogen, phosphate and potash as well as controlled release fertilizers and micronutrients. Agrium's strategy is to grow through incremental expansion of its existing operations and acquisitions as well as the development, commercialization and marketing of new products and international opportunities. Contact us at: www.agrium.com.



Contacts:

Poudre Learning Centre

Ray Tschillard

Media Contact

970-352-1267


Agrium Inc.

Lindsey Metheral

Program Advisor

403-225-7782
lindsey.metheral@agrium.com :

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