The Iowa Water Center invites Iowa high school students to enter its “Spirit of the Water High School Essay Contest,” and share a story of how water inspires them. Entries are due Feb. 5 at 5 p.m.

Students and their teacher Dwain Wilmot (in purple cap) cruise around Lake Okoboji with Jane Shuttleworth of Lakeside Lab at the wheel. All Iowa high students are invited to enter the Spirit of the Water High School Essay Contest to share a story of how water inspires them.

In addition to monetary prizes, first and second place winners will receive a scholarship to attend a summer college course at the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory Regents Resource Center.

Lakeside offers course credit for summer classes, and provides “a study of nature in nature,” according to Executive Director Mary Skopec.

“Lakeside is like no other experience students will have in their college career,” Skopec said. “The classes are immersive, meaning that students spend all day in the field working side by side with some of the most knowledgeable faculty in Iowa.

“We are not requiring the students to use the credit hours immediately and are instead allowing them to take the class when it best fits into their degree program because most of our classes are designed for students in their junior or senior year of college.”

The Iowa Water Center established the Spirit of the Water Essay Contest in 2016 with a gift from Betty and Dennis Keeney of Ames. The annual competition was created to inspire “Iowa youth to explore, reflect and communicate the importance of water in their lives and communities,” the Iowa Water Center reported on its website.

Students and teachers are encouraged to contact Hanna Bates at the Iowa Water Center Program by email (hbates@iastate.edu) or by phone (515-294-5650).

Prizes are given to the top three essay winners:

• First place: $500 cash prize and one full scholarship for a college course (four credit hours total) at the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory ($1700 value)
• Second place: $300 cash prize and two-credit hour course scholarship at the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory ($900 value)
• Third place: $300 cash prize

The State Hygienic Laboratory operates a water chemistry laboratory at the Lakeside Laboratory to provide water quality testing for residents, businesses, agencies, schools and colleges in the northwest Iowa region.