Hazards of Night Work FWEA Committee Corner: 2020-2021

Welcome to the FWEA Committee Corner! The Member Relations Committee of the Florida Water Environment Association hosts this article to celebrate the success of recent association committee activities and inform members of upcoming events. To have information included from your committee, send details to Melody Gonzalez at gonzalezm@bv.com.

Melody Gonzalez

2020-2021 FWEA High School Video Contest Open for Entries

Shea Dunifon

The FWEA Public Communications and Outreach Committee (PCOC) has announced the 2020-2021 theme for its annual video contest. The “To Flush or Not to Flush” video contest is open to all Florida high school students, inviting them to create a video—no longer than 45 seconds—to help raise awareness of what does (or does not) belong down the toilet.

Past student entries have ranged from songs to animations, comedy skits, and public service announcements. While many of these entries are educational and entertaining, one of the greatest challenges for students (and main judging criterion) is accuracy.

The goal of the video contest is to get students thinking (and hopefully, researching) a topic that is often “out of sight, out of mind.” This year, the PCOC is challenging students to correctly identify items that are (or are not) flushable.

The 2020-2021 contest marks the third year the contest has been held. Last year, Seminole High School in Pinellas County took first place from 15 total entries. This year, the PCOC has recruited four additional volunteers from across the state to help promote the contest in nine additional counties not represented by entries in previous years. Each year, the goal is to grow the number of entries from across the state.

Student winners can receive $700, $500, or $300 for their videos. As an added incentive, the teachers of the first-, second-, and third-place winners will also earn money to spend in their classrooms.

To view last year’s entries, please visit the FWEA YouTube page. To learn more about the video contest and its rules, please visit the contest webpage at https://fwea.org/ video_contest.php.

All entries are due by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 12, 2021.

If anyone is interested in volunteering to help promote the contest in their community or would like a digital copy of the contest flyer to share with a local high school or high school group, please feel free to reach out to me at sdunifon@pinellascounty.org.

Shea Dunifon is the education coordinator at Pinellas County Utilities South Cross Bayou Advanced Water Reclamation Facility in St. Petersburg and is chair of the FWEA Public Communications and Outreach Committee.S