By Erin Cushing
April showers bring May flowers — and a fun learning opportunity for students in Arlington Public Schools.
A partnership among Mason’s Arlington Campus and Office of Sustainability and the Arlington Public Schools system, Operation Rain Barrel “is a way to engage students in learning about sustainability in a fun, creative way,” says Toni Andrews, associate director of community relations in Arlington.
Rain barrels catch and hold rainwater, which can then be used for gardening and cleaning while reducing water consumption and protecting local water sources from depletion and contamination.
The Office of Sustainability and Community Relations have provided 20 plain rain barrels to participating schools. Students are artistically painting the barrels and will deliver them back to the Arlington Campus for display at the Founders Hall art gallery. The painted barrels will be judged by three community members.
Water Management Inc. is providing a $100 prize for each of the top three entries, with the prize money going to the schools that produced the winners.
The barrels will then be sold in a silent auction on the Arlington Campus from noon to 3 p.m. at the Earth Week Community Fair on Sunday, April 22. The proceeds will benefit the Arlington County Council of PTAs Scholarship Fund and Mason’s Early Identification Program, which targets and assists promising middle and high school students who would be the first in their family to attend college.
Andrews reports that all 20 rain barrels were claimed by interested schools as of Feb. 29, a whole week before the application deadline.
“We are very excited to see what the Arlington school kids will come up with when they design their barrels,” says Andrews.
To learn more about the Arlington Community Earth Week Fair, as well as other Mason Earth Week events, visit the Office of Sustainability website.