On Monday November 21, the Arizona Project WET team will be hosting a Water Festival in the Town. Specifically, in the Marana Water service area. Project WET is a national organization working to provide water education for teachers (WET). Their mission is to “enable every child to understand and value water, ensuring a sustainable future.”
Participants showing off their water cycle bracelets from another Water Festival in Arizona
In southern Arizona, the University of Arizona, Arizona Cooperative Extension has been promoting the Project WET mission and events since 1993. Working with the Water Resources Research Center, Arizona Project WET (APW) “develops water stewardship and STEM literacy by providing teacher professional development focused on 21st century skills, direct student outreach that delivers or extends classroom learning, and community engagement.” These goals are met through five program offerings; School Water Audit Program, Water Investigations Program, Teacher Academies, Water Scene Investigation, and Arizona Water Festival.
Arizona Water Festivals are held statewide beginning in September 2016. Apache Junction, Casa Grande, Florence, Gilbert, Payson, Nogales, Yuma, Peoria, Tucson, and many more cities and towns are hosting festivals through the summer of 2017. The event in Marana on November 21 will be in partnership with the Marana Unified School District. Manned almost entirely by volunteers, the program brings 4th grade students and their teachers out to a local park for interactive events exploring groundwater systems, watersheds, water conservation, and the water cycle. Additionally, the teachers are given information to help prepare lesson plans or other programming materials for their classrooms.
All of us here at Marana Water are excited about the event next Monday. The event will be held in Crossroads at Silverbell District Park, which is on the Marana Water distribution system. Being able to share the importance of water sustainability with students in the area can only help ensure the future generation of Marana Water users will use their water wisely.
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