BY SARAH ALEXANDER

There’s lots going on in Mahtomedi and White Bear Lake schools these days as students learn the “why” and “how” of caring for our precious water resource through educational programs developed and taught by Race 2 Reduce, the White Bear Lake area’s innovative water conservation program.

All students in grades 3 through 5 at O.H. Anderson School in Mahtomedi will participate in Race 2 Reduce lessons by the end of the school year. Third graders already have tracked their water use to raise awareness on how much water we each use. Fourth graders are learning more about water through new hands-on Enviroscape models that help them understand important concepts such as watersheds. Fifth graders have delved into the issues of White Bear Lake, learning about aquifers and where their water comes from. Over 300 O.H.A. students also participated in the recent Race 2 Reduce poster contest with the theme, “Use Water Wisely.”

At the high school level, Environmental Science students are brainstorming projects targeting water conservation or wise use of water resources. They will be implementing at least one of these projects in their school or the Mahtomedi community.

This is just a glimpse at all that is happening with Race 2 Reduce in Mahtomedi — with more activities happening in the White Bear Lake School District as well! Stay tuned for more news as the school year wraps up.

Sarah Alexander is project coordinator for H2O for Life.