The sixth grade students of Old Hammondtown School have water on their mind, clean water.

Over the past several months, the class has learned about the local water supply and that not everyone in the world can turn on the tap and get drinkable H20.

“We were surprised at how lucky we are to have such an easy and reliable source of water, and we didn’t know how bad the situation was in countries like Tanzania and Ethiopia,” said Alex Wright. “We can just go to the fridge, push a button and we get clean water.”

Now the sixth graders are raising money to give people in East Africa access to fresh water through their 'Hydrate to Educate' project.

The whole initiative started as a study comparing water management at home and abroad through a grant provided by the Tri-town League of Women Voters.

The students were surprised to learn from the chair of the Conservation Commission that their water comes from an aquifer that runs right under the school, and that what happens on the surface can affect the purity of their drinking water.

The study unit also looked at the situation abroad, particularly in East Africa where the scarcity of clean water leads to sickness, death and economic hardship.

“We learned that women and little girls had to walk miles and miles to get water and the water was dirty,” said Kathleen Tenerowicz. “They couldn’t get an education.”

The kids brainstormed ways they could help, and decided they wanted to raise money to build a well in Africa through the nonprofit The Water Project. Each well costs about $1,000, including funds to train local people on hygiene and well maintenance.

“Instead of walking miles for water, we can build a well in Africa, and women will be free to do whatever they want and children will be free to go to school like we do everyday,” said Claire Berry.

A dunk tank fundraiser was ruled out since it didn’t exactly go with theme of clean water and water conservation. Instead, the class decided to sell water bottles to the student body, their friends and family. Their teacher came up with the motto “Hydrate to Educate” and student Will Stark designed the logo for the bottles.

Students put their math skills to work and evaluated several companies, the unit rates, shipping costs and price points. Using funds from the League of Women Voters, they decided to purchase exactly 117 metal water bottles.

At $10 each they can fund one well. The students plan to purchase more to sell at Harbor Days this summer.

“We’re going to keep going until nobody wants to buy water bottles anymore,” said Alex.

The students sold almost a quarter of the bottles in the first two days.

“I was surprised by all the good feedback this project has gotten,” said Serena O’Connell.

The students are working on a commercial to educate their peers and the community on water conservation and scarcity, and they will visit other classrooms to talk about what they’ve learned. The commercial will air on ORCTV, and an educational brochure will go out to everyone in town.

“We hope it will raise awareness in the community, not just kids in our school,” said Davis Fox.

Additionally, the students are planting rain gardens around the school with their science teacher. The plants are chosen for their benefit to the aquifer.

The whole project has encompassed everything from persuasive writing to money management.

“It was holistic in a way that we don’t often get the opportunity to do,” said teacher Sara Jacobsen.

Jacobsen said the students have taken the lessons on water to heart. Some of them even happened on Jacobsen watering a new patch of sod in her yard recently.

They asked her, “Is that a good use of water?”

“It was exciting to see them internalize it and own it,” she said.

Any sixth grader in town can take water bottle orders as well as Jacobsen who can be reached at sjacobsen@orr.mec.edu.

The kids are hoping they can sell enough bottles to build two wells in Tanzania or Ethiopia.

“It just makes me happy to know that we’re making a difference in other people’s lives that need it,” said Alex.