A VERY Good Year

When you look back on your life (even if you're just in the middle of it), some years jump out as "amazing" or "blah" for a variety of reasons. Hiking Machu Picchu culminated my high school career and culminated a great year; Moving to Kenya with my new husband was an amazing year; Having my kid diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome was a very bad year; and teaching with Maureen Carpenter has been a professionally brilliant year! The story I will go on to tell you will explain more...

Maureen and I were on the verge of wrapping up our inquiry unit about water. Students were exploring how "Living things need water to survive and people have a responsibility to care for it." It was during our final planning that we realized we hadn't actually gone in-depth about our responsibility to care for water. Then, a shock of brilliance crashed into the room and the 2nd grade water project was born.

Maureen and I returned to class and asked the kids, "How do you get water?" The answer was a variation on, "I walk to the Aqua jug and fill'er up!" To help our students learn empathy for those people who do not have immediate access to water, the 2nd grade students role-played the water journey of people in different countries around the world: Kenyans, Brazilians, Indonesians, Americans, and Europeans. Here's their story...

Kenya: "We walked several kilometers with a heavy backpack. In one hand we carried our water bottle and in the other hand we carried a pillow which was like carrying a baby."

Brazil: "We walked about a kilometer to reach our water source. After filling our water bottles, we had to run back to our classroom due to an unforeseen problem like a war or natural disaster."

Indonesia: "Our water was dirty. We had to filter it, but still, one person in our group died because of a water-borne disease." The sign around his neck says, "I am one of 1.4 million children who die every year because of water-borne illnesses. What are you going to do to help children like me?"

America/Europe: "We were able to drink as much water as we wanted. All day long. 

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To learn about how this project affected their life and inspired two teachers to make a difference. Watch the video.

On April 28th, water on our campus will be a commodity. When people want to fill up their water bottle at our school, they will be required to pay 10,000 Rp. (about $1). All the money will be used to buy a water well in Cambodia. We are seeing change... one child at a time!

This has been a VERY good year!

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