The AP Environmental Science classes at Diamond Bar High School wrapped up the school year with “Your World Projects,” which were entered in a competition to see which project would be implemented.

The projects were judged by eight evaluators who all have experience in environmental science-related fields. The project was scored based on the creativity of the idea and process, effectiveness of the message of the project, short and long term effectiveness and the group’s presentation. The scores were then averaged to determine the rankings of the classes.

Operation Hydration took first place over Seeds of Change, Spotlight and

Project Bluebird. Operation Hydration received the full 500 points, while Seeds of Change, Spotlight and Project Bluebird scored 450, 400 and 350 points, respectively.

Created by science teacher Greg Valor’s fourth period class, Operation Hydration installed a water dispenser on campus to provide clean water for students.

“This will reduce the amount of plastic waste our students produce,” sophomore project president Yuwen Wang said via Facebook.

According to Wang, the class started off by brainstorming project ideas. Once they had a few ideas, they sought approval from operations manager Mike Bromberg. The class then sent out sponsorship letters to local businesses, hosted a recycling drive and held a Chipotle fundraiser to raise the $1,200 needed to create the water dispenser.

While working on the project, the class faced the difficulties of getting everyone to participate and the decision of where to place the water dispenser. However, the class decided to install the water dispenser next to the guidance office due to location since it provides convenience to the students and discourages vandalism.

“This is the first step for our school to implement more modern and environmentally friendly technologies,” said Wang. “It will help out a lot of our students who struggle with finding clean places to fill up their water bottles.”