Local 5th graders visited the Godfrey campus of Lewis & Clark Community College on Friday Sept. 19, 2014 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m during the 12th annual Water Festival.
The festival consisted of stations hosted by different organizations. Stations covered a range of topics, from water’s impact on history, local wildlife, conservation and protection of our water supply.
L&C students and faculty volunteered by assisting with activities and guiding groups of students through the event.
A highlight of the event was an interactive presentation about the Lewis and Clark expedition hosted by the Lewis and Clark Historic Site. The presentation was given by L&C professor and guide at the Lewis and Clark Museum, Brad Winn.
L&C’s own Sustainability Center and Student Sustainability Association hosted an activity called “Water, Water, Everywhere!”. The activity was presented by the Director of Sustainability, Nate Keener, Vice President, Johnny Allison, and Alexandra Ruiz, a student member.
(also includes Alexandra Ruiz and Johnny Allison)
“The purpose of our activity was to demonstrate how little water there is available to humans on this planet. We started with an aquarium full of water that represented all the water on the earth, and by the time we removed everything not available to humans, we were left with just a few drops to represent water in rivers, from which humans obtain most of their water,” Keener said.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources hosted Urban Fishing and Canoeing with
IDNR. The fishing station taught proper casting and helped students identify fish.
Scott Isringhausen explained the historical use of canoes for fur trading along the rivers of the region during the canoe rides.
“This year’s festival ran smoothly, especially with the addition of so many helpful volunteers, but the real exciting change to this year’s festival was the addition of a stewardship component where each class had the opportunity to collect pairs of shoes for the Shoeman Water Project,” Natalie Marioni, Environmental Education Manager and Water Festival Coordinator said.
Tonya Koller’s Carlinville elementary class won t-shirts for collecting the most shoes with a total of 156 pairs.
Shoes collected are sold at a reduced price with profits going towards making clean drinking water accessible for all.
Visit ngrrec.org/Education/Children/Water-Festival/ for more Information and photos of Water Fest.
Contact Julia at juejohnson@lc.edu
