Stevensville students to get new water fountain with Martin's grant

Hydration is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. It’s something taught to school kids all over Michiana.

In Stevensville, the students at St. Paul's Lutheran School keep their water bottles handy, but they struggle with an outdated water fountain.

“You have to push it up against the drinking fountain,” demonstrated third grader Ethan Heyn. “And get it at the right angle so that the water will shoot into it right.”

“It's very old,” added Elle Graebel, a sixth grader. “Sometimes the water, it just kind of trickles out. It will function the way you want it to, but it's not very practical for filling up water bottles.”

All the students at St. Paul’s are encouraged to bring their water bottles to class.

“We want to make sure they're comfortable in class and we don't want them hopping up periodically to have to refill and drink out of the fountain,” explained Principal Paul Ihde.

A new, improved water bottle filling station would help. That’s why St. Paul's parent Krista Mihalik applied for Martin's Super Markets' $1,000 One School at a Time grant.

“Most schools and buildings around here are updated with the refillable water stations. And that's why we thought it would be great opportunity to take this grant and use the money for,” said Mihalik.

Soon, St. Paul's Lutheran will be like the other schools.

“When we travel around for sports, when we go to different schools, normally they all have the updated versions of the water fountain,” said Graebel.

“With this water filling station, you can just put it under and not worry about it,” said Heyn.

If you want to nominate your school for a One School at a Time grant, just fill out an application online.

The winning school gets $1,000 from Martin’s Super Markets, and a new winner is picked each month.

Schools only need to apply once, and you can do so by going to

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