The Schuylkill Action Network will recognize students in the Schuylkill River Valley for their work protecting drinking water from the Schuylkill River.

The Schuylkill Action Network will present the Schuylkill Scholastic Drinking Water Award to the ninth-grade class at Blue Mountain High School in Berks County on May 22 at 2 p.m.

In the 2013-2014 school year, the entire eighth-grade class at Blue Mountain Middle School helped convert basins into rain gardens, planted trees, and participated in environmental education. 

The school partnered with the Orwigsburg Borough, Orwigsburg Lions Club, Schuylkill Conservation District, and the Schuylkill Headwaters Association and received funding through the Schuylkill River Restoration Fund.

“Projects like this one are very important for keeping the Schuylkill Watershed clean,” said Tom Davidock, senior coordinator of the Schuylkill Action Network at the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary.  “Schools provide that direct link to communities and can teach all of us simple things we can all do to keep our rivers and streams healthy. The students, now at Blue Mountain High School, were involved in a small project that can have a big impact on the watershed.”

Blue Mountain Middle School is one of three award winners in 2015.  The Schuylkill Action Network also honored both the Science Leadership Academy at Beeber in Philadelphia and Reading Area Community College in Berks County for projects they completed on their campuses.

The Schuylkill River and its tributaries provide drinking water for more than 2 million people living in 11 counties and 232 municipalities in the watershed.  It is also a major source of clean fresh water for the Delaware River and Bay.

The Schuylkill Action Network is a coalition of more than 100 member-organizations.  It was formed in 2003 to clean up and protect Pennsylvania’s Schuylkill River, as well as its tributaries. 

Members include conservation districts; local, state, and federal agencies; watershed organizations and individuals.  Examples include the Delaware River Basin Commission, Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, Department of Environmental Protection, Philadelphia Water Department, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, just to name a few.  Anyone is welcome to join, and membership is free.

Click Here for more on other initiatives recognized by the Schuylkill Action Network.

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