Riverside Public Utilities (RPU) recognized several students from Woodcrest Christian High School for their achievements in the Annual Bottled Water Label Art Contest. The awards ceremony took place on Monday, October 28, and also included recognition of their teacher.
The Board of Public Utilities honored senior Madeleine Chaffin and juniors Ella Whitehouse, Elyssa Smith, and Klaudia Blaszczyk for their winning designs. Their teacher, Ms. Rhonda Thomale, was also acknowledged for her role in guiding the students.
Each student received $250, a certificate, copies of their winning label design, and two cases of bottled water featuring their artwork. Ms. Thomale was awarded a $50 gift certificate to an art supply store for each student she mentored.
“RPU is excited to honor these talented students and their teacher,” said Board of Public Utilities Chair Jo Lynne Russo-Pereyra. “We have been recognizing aspiring artists this way since 1999, so the impact on our young people has been substantial.”
The contest is part of RPU’s annual “Splash Into Cash” initiative that supports middle and high schools throughout Riverside. It offers high school art students an opportunity to create commercial artwork that appears on bottled water distributed to schools. These bottles are used by schools to support volunteers or activity groups or as fundraising items for sports teams and other programs.
Participation in the contest is open to all public and private high school students within Riverside. Since its inception, RPU has spent more than $370,000 on the program and provided nearly 600,000 bottles of water to city schools.
“As a local municipal utility, RPU is deeply involved in the community,” General Manager Todd Corbin said. “This program benefits talented local students and is just one of many ways that Riverside residents and business owners see a return on their investment in their local utility.”
