Salem Hills Elementary School and the Atheneum Gifted Magnet Program held a Water Fair and Water Walk this spring as part of their year-end service learning. Before the fair, students learned about the global water crisis through H2O for Life, a nonprofit organization that increases access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene around the world. The Water Fair gave students an opportunity to address the issue through education and fundraising, and the Water Walk gave students a hands-on opportunity to understand the experience of someone without clean water infrastructure.

The fair included an educational arcade and a marketplace. Students designed and built their own educational games for the cardboard arcade. Each carnival-type game included facts about water, the environment, and ways individuals can protect our water resources. Students sold their handmade crafts as well as snacks and drinks in the marketplace. Sales were donated to H2O for Life to help increase access to clean water. The school’s donations have helped children as far away as Tanzania and as near as the American Southwest.

During their specialist time, classes participated in the Water Walk. Students carried jugs of water around an outdoor course to simulate the journey that nearly one billion people around the world must make for clean water. Older students also experienced gathering water from a nearby pond before hauling the water back to the course. The experience highlighted the time and effort it takes for children in other places to stay healthy and in school without clean water infrastructure. 

The Water Fair, Water Walk, and lessons leading up to them helped Salem Hills and Atheneum students develop the knowledge and confidence to create positive change. They built an awareness of worldwide issues and accepted the challenge of finding ways they could help, regardless of their age. Great job, students!