APW’s Coconino County Program Receives $13k Grant to Expand Outreach
The Arizona Project WET (APW) Flagstaff Water Festival Program has been awarded a generous grant from the Arizona Community Foundation (ACF) of Flagstaff. The highly successful water festival event is held each September, and the City of Flagstaff has a long-term investment in this program. The additional sponsorship from ACF will allow APW to expand its reach and serve more students, including those in charter schools.
APW has a long-standing partnership with NAU College of Education. With these ACF funds and through continued partnership with NAU’s Teacher College, APW’s goal is to strengthen and increase NAU students’ engagement in the Arizona Water Festival program in the next year by:
- Offering a mini water festival to some schools that are not able to make it to the larger event
- Extending NAU students’ learning to include the entire Arizona Water Festival unit
- Integrating locally relevant pre/post-festival lessons that will be co-taught with the Coconino Program Coordinator
The Arizona Water Festival Program instills a deeper understanding of water in the earth system and water resources in Arizona through a 4th grade curriculum unit driven by exploration and inquiry. The program includes:
- Teacher professional development, online and in-person
- 10 lesson plans that activate learning
- Festival modules on groundwater, watersheds, the water cycle, and water conservation technology
APW water festivals have taken place in over 28 communities across the state of Arizona, and have reached over 154,000 students and over 5,800 teachers.