Centiva has announced the award of a $3,000 Green Innovation Grant to Mason County Middle School in Maysville, KY. As part of their Earth Week activities, Centiva announced the “Green School Innovation” grant program for public and private K-12 schools.

The grant is intended to encourage schools to develop creative, innovative, cost effective environmental projects which will improve the environment; make schools a healthier place to learn, play, and work; and save money through reduced use of natural resources.

The Mason County Middle School entry was one of twelve entries that Centiva received from across the country. The Wild About Water Quality project will have students completing water quality monitoring on a section of Lawrence Creek, which is a tributary of the Ohio River. Students will test the water three times throughout the school year and report data to the Kentucky Water Watch program.

In addition, Water Quality monitoring kits, which test for a variety of parameters, will be utilized. Students will also perform macro-invertebrate sampling to analyze these species as bio-indicators of stream health and then use a habitat survey to compare the amount of riparian zone and physical features of the stream to the health of the stream. Besides the water quality monitoring, students will also design and install rain gardens around the campus to reduce the amount of storm water runoff from parking lots and roads from getting into the stream without filtration.

The three judges were impressed with the educational benefits of this project coupled with the planned and current work with state agencies. Diana Brown, Publisher ofEnvironmental Design & Construction Magazine (ED&C), stated, “Water Quality and conservation are increasingly important to the environment. Educating the next generation about these benefits is critical. The integration of working with other state departments and environmental agencies will also drive home the importance of this project to the next generation.”

Centiva is excited to follow the evolution of this project and will post updates through social media once the project begins in September 2012.