Katherine Watier of Union began to educate people about the plight of the rain forests when she was a student at Medomak Valley High School in 1993. Now, with the help of the Internet, her message is reaching people all over the country.

The 23-year-old MVHS graduate came up with an idea for rain forest education project, called Rain forest Challenge, when she was 13. Her brother, Matthew, also worked to create the project. When she was 16, she and a group of fellow MVHS students called STEP (Students Toward Environmental Protection) began giving presentations on the rain forest at local schools and community groups.

They gave a three-hour presentation for third-graders at the Union Elementary School. That third grade class later raised $600 to buy and preserve acres of rain forest land. People can buy an acre of rain forest through The Children's Rainforest in Costa Rica for about $100 per acre, Watier said. Rain forest acres also can be bought through the Rainforest Preservation Foundation in Brazil. In one year, the MVHS student group saved more than a dozen acres of rain forest and gave more than 13 presentations, according to Watier's Internet site.

Watier said she was spending about 30 hours per week working on the project when she was in high school, on top of schoolwork and other extra curricular activities. The group attended the First International Youth Environmental Summit in Loveland, Colo. in 1993.

Watier said that, when she went to Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass, she put the Rainforest Challenge on the backburner. Then she took a class on Web page design and decided to put information about the project on the Internet. Soon teachers and youths from across the country were asking her for more information about the project, Watier wrote in a press release. "The idea just didn't want to die," she said.

The Web site is now in its fifth or sixth revision and explains how to do a presentation on rain forests. Any school in the country could use it to put on a presentation, Watier said. The target audience is students and teachers. The presentation can be geared toward people from grade three to adulthood. It provides information about the plants and animals of the rain forest; the economic reasons for its destruction; the global consequences of the destruction; and ways to help save the rain forest."The purpose of The Rain forest Challenge presentations is to empower students and prevent them from feeling helpless where environmental problems are concerned," the Web site explains.

The Web site explains how to create presentations that include side shows or videos, games, drawing and writing exercises; eating foods that come from rain forests; and interpretive dance. The curriculum includes several disciplines including English, art, biology, physics, social studies, humanities, geography and environmental sciences, according to the Web site.

Watier said she talked to a mother whose family donates money to a charity rather than giving birthday presents. For her son's birthday, the family and friends donated enough money to save nine acres of rain forest. They found out about the program through Watier's Web site. Watier and her brother plan to go to the Genesis II Cloud Forest Preserve in Costa Rica to do research for the project.

Matthew Watier, who is studying at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, wants to write and illustrate a children's book, his sister said. "We've never seen the tropical rain forest and I need that first hand reference in order to create a truly motivational children's book," he said in the press release.

They will overhaul and update the Web site this summer, Watier said. The sibling team also wants to make an educational CD-ROM for the project. The pair is raising money for their trip to the rain forest and for the education Project, according to the press release. They are accepting donations from local businesses. Watier is working as an intern for the National 4-H Council in Chevy Chase, Md. The siblings' parents are Roland and Carol Watier of Union.