By Pam Wright
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The 12th annual Chatham-Kent & Lambton Children’s Water Festival is putting a big drop in the environment’s bucket.
Held at the C.M. Wilson Conservation Area recently, the three-day event saw around 2,000 students and volunteers explore a variety of topics relating to the life-giving importance of water.
“We provide awareness and help students make the connection to the importance of clean water and how it impacts them,” said festival organizer Don Hector. “It’s about the basics of water conservation, water protection and water quality. We’re lucky to have clean water.”
Thrumming with activity, the open-air classroom offered 45 hands-on experiences and interactive themes, including water science, water technology, water conservation, water protection and water attitude.
An Indigenous perspective was also presented at the festival with some of the activities showcasing First Nations traditional ecological knowledge.
According to Hector, the festival is aimed at students in grades 4 and 5, dovetailing with the provincial education curriculum, including the subjects of science, math and the environment.
There’s also messaging around climate change, with volunteers sharing how changes in the weather relate to issues such as flooding, erosion and algae blooms.
As well, the Chatham-Kent Public Utilities Commission had an interactive display showing youngsters how water is processed for use and consumption.
“It’s an impressionable age,” Hector explained, as children in that age group are still forming their ideas and beliefs.
“We introduce them to the concepts and it should make an impact later in life,” he said.
The goal is for students to become “catalysts for change,” Hector added, by taking their knowledge and newfound respect for water back to their homes, schools and communities.
Schools from four different school boards took part in the event, with the majority located within the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority and the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority’s watersheds bordering Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair.
The festival operates thanks to numerous sponsors and parent and community volunteers.
Since 2007, a total of 18,000 elementary school students have attended.
