A host of fourth grade Fuentes Stars shone brightly and were awarded “Making a Splash” t-shirts in the eighth annual Guadalupe Basin River Authority (GBRA) Composition Challenge recently. Ninety-four Fuentes entrants responded to the writing prompt, “Write a composition about why water is important, and why we need to conserve it.” (Courtesy photo)
by Cinde Thomas-Jimenez
Special to the Hays Free Press
Thirty-five Fuentes students once again earned their “Star” status recently, being awarded t-shirt prizes in the eighth annual Guadalupe Basin River Authority (GBRA) Composition Challenge for fourth-graders. Elementary campuses that receive the “Journey Through the Guadalupe River Basin” kits were sent contest guidelines in January, and all written compositions were due in February. Students from school districts in five counties in the Guadalupe River Basin submitted entries this year.
The Composition Challenge, which focuses on water conservation, offers teachers and students a fun way to help them prepare for the state TAKS Writing test, which takes place in February. In most schools, students are provided a daily writing “prompt”, and they practice their writing skills by addressing the given topic. The GBRA provided a prompt and guidelines very similar to what students were recently confronted with on the TAKS test:
PROMPT: Write a composition about why water is important, and why we need to conserve it.
Student compositions were scored in March and April, and prizes awarded during National Drinking Water Week. Prizes included “Conserve Water” t-shirts, cups and certificates.
Fuentes Elementary submitted 94 entries and of those, 35 students were awarded a t-shirt for their compositions. Fuentes entries were very good this year, perhaps due to the amount of time that these students have spent learning about water resources during the school year. These students were presented information on watersheds and water quality this past fall, they have monitored the water in Plum Creek twice, and had the opportunity to participate in a community-wide cleanup of the creek at Steeplechase Park.
