“Spirit of the Water” Essay Contest

Spirit of the Water Essay Contest 2024 

The Spirit of the Water Essay Contest was established and is funded through a generous gift from Betty and Dennis Keeney, formerly of Ames, Iowa, and now living in Madison, Wisconsin. Dennis was the first director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and former director of the Iowa Water Center (IWC).

In 2016, the Iowa Water Center hosted the first Spirit of the Water Essay Contest for high school students across the state of Iowa. Since then, the essay contest has been hosted by IWC on an annual basis. The Spirit of the Water Essay Contest’s purpose is to inspire Iowa youth to explore, reflect, and communicate the importance of water in our lives and communities.

We challenge Iowa high school students to write an essay that relates to the following theme: 

Life Depends on Water. Water Depends on You. 

An emphasis should be placed on water resource management within the essay.  The deadline to enter is April 12, 2024 @ 5pm.

Learn more here!

Questions can be directed to Zita Quade  zquade@iastate.edu