In the fall of 2003, toxic industrial solvents rendered the drinking wells of many of Jami Harper’s neighbors unusable. Jami wanted to prevent such ecological disasters from happening to other people, so she started an educational water protection program dedicated to teaching wise and environmentally sustainable water use practices.
The discovery of the industrial solvents 1,1-dichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene in the wells, presented serious health risks, which Jami’s program helped address. For example, the pollutants are odorless and tasteless, so the families had no idea they had ingested compromised water from the wells. One family’s well had tetrachloroethylene at seventy times the acceptable level. Jami’s educational program not only serves to educate the general public about the ongoing dangers about pollution, but also safe practices in terms of dealing with already compromised water supplies. To enhance her program, she created H2Owood Squares, an educational version of Hollywood Squares, built a life-size game structure, recruited volunteers from nine high schools, and has to date incorporated the presentation as part of her workshops for students and educators. In 2005, Jami enhanced the H2Owood Squares workshops, recruiting local and state celebrities to participate, including Miss Nebraska Teen USA 2005. Jami has made workshop-presentations to attendees from over 100 communities across Nebraska, reaching 500 fourth and fifth-graders, as well as their parents, and teachers. An additional 1500 attendees have gained education in water conservation and recovery via Jami’s specially designed program booth.
Jami designed and oversees the Water Wizard Web site, featuring daily questions and answers about water protection. She has distributed a self-designed, full-color, water protection brochure to youth and adults from across the United States and even to international audiences as well, including Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Her work has garnered interest from numerous luminaries, including General Colin Powell and Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman, all of whom recognize the importance and impact of her project.
Jami Harper recognized that the contamination of her neighbors’ wells not only presented a local problem, but also a global one. Water sustains all life on our planet, from our households to the far corners of the earth. Jami formulated an accessible, interesting, and ultimately vitally important educational initiative to teach wise water conservation strategies. In doing so, Jami is an everyday American hero, acting locally while thinking globally in defense of our most precious liquid resource: drinkable water.
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