Exploring the hydrocycle
Mammoth Middle School Earth Science teacher Gil Campos and his students once again embarked on a special, invitation-only tour of MCWD’s water facilities last Friday. He and his class are participants in LivingWise, a state-approved supplemental curriculum, facilitated locally via the Eastern Sierra Energy Initiative and its partnership with Southern California Edison. Now in its fifth year, LivingWise teaches energy efficiency and conservation, and also includes a water related-component sponsored by Mammoth Community Water District.
At Twin Lakes just above Mammoth, MCWD Resource Manager Clay Murray illustrated the cycle from our water supply’s beginnings as snowpack and rain, and how it’s taken in for purification and sent to water spigots. He ran the students through how the “hydrocycle works,” including evaporation, condensation and precipitation, as well as how the District measures and monitors how much water it has to work with during any given time of year.
Next stop: the wastewater plant. Plant Operations Superintendent Karl Schnadt allowed students to see (and smell) how waste is ground, clarified, run through biological reactors filled with millions of microscopic bugs doing their part, filtered and disinfected.
Schnadt also treated the class to a sneak peek at the new solar array, which should be completed and ready for operation in July. The array, when online, will produce enough power to reduce the district’s $14,000 per month power bill to zero, and pay for itself within about 9 years.
Kirkeby passes “Four Way Test”
Each year the Mammoth Lakes Rotary Club sponsors the 8th Grade “Four Way Test Essay Contest,” in which Students write about how the Four-Way Test is applicable in their lives. Eighty students submitted essays and Amanda Kirkeby emerged the winner.
The essay must address four questions: 1.) Is it the TRUTH? 2.) Is it FAIR to all concerned? 3. Will it build GOOD WILL and better FRIENDSHIPS? 4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
Following is Kirkeby’s winning essay:
“The Four Way Test is a great way to improve your lifestyle. It includes telling the truth, being fair, building better friendships and being beneficial.
I try to always tell the truth in my life. It makes me a trustworthy and reliable person to everyone. Being honest makes me feel good about myself because I know I did the right thing. Telling the truth is an essential part of the Four Way Test, but the quality of fairness is also vital. I try to be fair to all people who will be affected by what I say or do. Trying to be fair is difficult at times, but it makes me a better person overall.
Being fair is my way of showing people I care about them evenly, which helps build better friendships. Building better friendships is something that makes me a respectable person to be around. I build better friendships by including people into conversations and listening to what they have to say. All these traits are beneficial to everyone. In conclusion, I strive to be the best I can be.
It’s not the easiest path to take, but it’s the road to becoming the person I desire to be.”
Kirkeby read her essay at a Rotary Club meeting, and afterward was presented with a new iPad 2.
