September 2013

* Granted $1,500 for upgrading equipment for the festival

Project objectives:

To provide an active, outdoor hands-on learning event which teaches elementary students the importance of water and water ecosystems, inspiring good water stewardship practices. The intention is that good water messages will be transferred back to children’s classrooms where teaches can draw upon these curriculum-linked messages. Children will also start acting on these important messages, becoming stewards in their home and communities. Participants including students, teachers, and parent supervisors learn that their actions and attitudes make a difference towards water and ecosystems and that we are all ultimately responsible for maintaining healthier water systems for future generations.

The 2013 festival occurred the week of Monday September 30th and Tuesday October 1st and was a “splashing success”! Over the two days, 1136 elementary students and 220 adults, including teachers, EA’s and parents, came and learned about water. Due to your generosity, we were able to give some much-needed maintenance to some of our activity centres, and develop “Beaver Fever” IN TIME FOR THIS YEAR’S FESTIVAL. “Beaver Fever” is a fun activity which teaches children about the aquatic adaptations of the beaver using human-related metaphors, and is facilitated with a beaver puppet. We are pleased to say that this activity was a real hit with the students and the station was always busy with very engaged participants!