Students at Dallas ISD’s Nancy Cochran Elementary School will have an outdoor classroom and water-conserving garden thanks to Dallas being ranked at the top among large cities for residents pledging to conserve water.
Dallas won the 2014 National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation, and among the prizes was a water-friendly pocket garden – one that will be added to the courtyard at Cochran. On Thursday, April 9, Mayor Mike Rawlings, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lead administrator Gina McCarthy, Toyota Chief Environmental Officer Kevin Butt and nationally renowned muralist Wyland helped break ground on the garden.
The artist’s Wyland Foundation, in partnership with Toyota and other partners, is behind the nationwide pledge available at www.mywaterpledge.com. Citizens who pledge to save water are eligible to win several prizes based on how well their city ranks in the monthlong challenge, which ends April 30.
After the ceremonial groundbreaking, Wyland showed students how to draw a sea turtle as they sketched along with him.
