High school students paint storm drains, raise awareness

Photo submitted Siloam Springs High School students Dannie Dobson, left, and Cody Bartlett paint storm water drains near downtown Siloam Springs in an effort to bring awareness to keeping the storm drains and creeks litter free.
Photo submitted Siloam Springs High School students Dannie Dobson, left, and Cody Bartlett paint storm water drains near downtown Siloam Springs in an effort to bring awareness to keeping the storm drains and creeks litter free.

National Art Honor Society students with Siloam Springs High School painted four drains in downtown Siloam Springs Saturday, May 4, as a way to bring awareness to the importance of keeping local creeks clean.

The service project was spearheaded by faculty advisor Angie Howie, who was accompanied by another faculty advisor and nine of her students.

According to the NAHS constitution, the purpose of a high school's chapter is to "inspire and recognize those students who have shown an outstanding ability in art; foster excellence and dedicated spirit to the pursuit of art; bring art to the attention of the school and community."

The project was executed to bring attention to the city's storm drains, which take water to Sager Creek and into the Illinois River, the city's main water supply, Holland Hayden, Siloam Springs communications director, said. City officials have seen other substances getting into drains, such as pet waste, cigarette butts, grass clippings and trash. Hayden hopes the painted drains will educate the Siloam Springs community about the importance of proper disposal of waste.

Siloam Springs, via permit by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, is a MS4 community, or municipal separate storm sewer system community. The denomination was given based on population size, Hayden said.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency's website, a MS4 system is "owned by a state, city, town or other public entity that discharges to waters of the U.S.; designed or used to collect or convey storm water; not combined with sewer, and; not part of a sewage treatment plant, or publicly owned treatment works. Polluted storm-water runoff is commonly transported through municipal separate storm sewer systems and then often discharged, untreated, into local water bodies."

Howie said she was proud of her students for wanting to bring attention to something like this.

Kimber McWhorter, student, said she drew inspiration for the paintings from Dr. Seuss' Lorax, a fictional character who is known as a sort of guardian over a forest. McWhorter painted a sort of Lorax fish trying to protect the creeks and raise awareness about the importance of environmental impact.

The NAHS was founded at Siloam Springs High School three years ago and is currently 33 students strong, Howie said.

Hayden and Howie would like more drains to be painted in the future.

General News on 05/22/2019