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| 2/25/2009 6:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Youths get feet wet at Children's Water, Agriculture Festival
Kristen Plank
Journal Staff Writer
More than 400 elementary students splish-splashed their way through the Montezuma County Fairgrounds on Wednesday for the 16th annual Children's Water and Agriculture Festival.
The "water and agriculture" theme swept in students from elementary schools ranging from Blanding, Utah, to Dove Creek for the annual event, organized by the Dolores Water Conservancy District.
"The importance is to educate kids on water and agriculture and to reinforce that in the community," said organizer Gina Espeland.
Students scampered from one hands-on station to the next with their teachers in tow. Pam Coppinger's fifth-grade Mancos Elementary School class were eager to share their newfound water knowledge.
"We're learning about how much water we use and where we get water from," said Jessica Gutierrez, 11.
The big topics didn't deter any of the students. Classmate Anna Cox, also 11, said she learned how water rights work in the area.
Jan Sennhenn, Montezuma County extension director, turned water wizard for the day, added to the discussion, carrying a wand next to her wizard-capped assistant.
"It gets a little wild in here," Sennhenn said about the "water pictionary" trivia game she taught each group of students. "We're teaching students about weather, water quality and water conservation."
One question Sennhenn posed to students while holding a gallon jug was how many gallons of water are used to manufacture four tires for a family car. The answer was more than 2,000 gallons; visuals, she said, are used to "educate while also having fun."
Presenter Gabi Morey with the San Juan Mountains Association took a different approach to water education by having the students in her group become water molecules. Each student took a journey through the water cycle.
"It's called 'The Incredible Journey' and it offers a different perspective for the students," Morey said as students bounced from one portion of the room to the other. "People think of the water cycle as cyclical but it's not."
She said molecules can get stuck in glaciers for thousands of years and stay there instead of moving on to another phase in the cycle.
But water wasn't the only discussion on the day's agenda. Agriculture played as important a role in the festival as water did. Presenters from the San Juan Basin Farm Bureau took the agriculture topics by discussing the "Angels of Agriculture" - otherwise known as bees - in one area as others educated on sunflowers and farm safety.
Students learned about history as well.
Abrianna Conklin, 11, was immersed in education from ancient times as she listened to how Ancestral Puebloans used water in their everyday life. She pointed to a clay pot sherd after the discussion.
"You can still see their fingerprints from when they made it when it was wet," said the fifth-grader from Pleasant View. "We learned how Ancestral Puebloans used water wisely and where they got it from."
Reach Kristen Plank at kristenp@cortezjournal.com.
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