The Santa Barbara County Water Agency is announcing that voting is underway for a “People’s Choice Award” for the annual 2014 Water Wise High School Video Contest. The public is invited to view online the twenty 30-second videos submitted. Anyone with a Facebook account can vote for their favorite videos by “liking” one or more videos on the Contest’s Facebook page, accessible through the www.WaterWiseSB.org home page before the April 18 deadline.
Students from nine high schools across the County submitted videos for the 2014 contest, the 15th annual such contest. This year the schools represented include: Bishop Garcia Diego, Cabrillo, Dos Pueblos, Dunn, Laguna Blanca, Pioneer Valley, San Marcos, Santa Barbara, and Santa Ynez Valley. The contest meets several California State Content Standards and according to Scott McGolpin, the County Public Works Department Director, “Besides being fun to watch, the videos really show off the students’ creativity, as well as their understanding of the value of water during this time of drought”.
The objective of this year’s contest, focused on the topic of “saving water outdoors”, is to create 30-second videos that can serve as public service announcements to promote water conservation and water efficiency programs. Some videos from past years’ competitions have been used as PSAs on television and in movie theaters, and audio versions have been used on radio.
Besides the “People’s Choice Award”, judges from local water providers will award 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes ranging from $300 to $1,000 to the winning schools. For the first time, the contest also has prizes being awarded by four local companies: lynda.com, Aqua-Flo Supply, Ewing Irrigation, and Deckers. The companies’ awards will go to students on the winning video teams. Their level of support is shown on the contest webpage at: http://www.waterwisesb.org/education.aspx?id=392 .
The annual contest is funded by The Network of Santa Barbara County Water Providers which consists of the water providers across Santa Barbara County and the County Water Agency. Together, these agencies sponsor programs that promote water conservation.
Visit www.WaterWiseSB.org to learn about more ways to save water and to view the competing videos – – and vote for your favorite!