This two-part webinar engages the water sector to raise public awareness of water issues amongst elementary and college-aged students.
It will start by discussing where to find and how to engage elementary students in exploring topics including global water distribution, the sources of water, the scarcity of water, how water is used in industrial, manufacturing and agricultural applications, water pollution, flooding, water challenges and water opportunities. To further engage the elementary student’s understanding and interest in these topics, we will explain how to do some activities.
Sparking interest in water starts early in life and can be nurtured in school, through community groups such as the Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, 4H club, and school science programs. The key takeaways will include:
W – Water – Public awareness of water issues.
A – Attitude – Creating a positive attitude towards water.
T – Teamwork – Demonstrating that it takes teamwork to ensure the future supply of water.
E – Everyone – Show how everyone is involved in its use, conservation, and recycling.
R – Resources – The resources are there. It’s up to you to use them wisely
The webinar will then transition to how to engage with college-aged students. Where in this time of crisis and economic turmoil, the Clean Water Industry has an opportunity to demonstrate why it is a stable, satisfying, exciting, and rewarding career option for anyone who is starting out. We will demonstrate how we, as an industry, can share with the public a full range of opportunities for a massive assortment of career types and backgrounds. It will focus particularly on the Non-STEM trades, as those are often careers for which our industry fails to recruit as competitively.
Survey data collected from current college students will be highlighted to show what matters most to them as they start taking their first steps into the workforce. It will also demonstrate how to use the joint impacts of the COVID crisis and current economic slowdown to illuminate some of the greatest benefits of a career in our industry. Crucially, the webinar will explore ways to engage an audience in this age-group and focus on how to use our survey data and activity to keep them engaged.
Speakers and Contributors: Alec Mackenzie, EPCOR; Billy Searles, Kiewit; Christina Davenport, City of Bend; Jenny Reitz, HRSD; Jonathan Leitch, Victaulic; Liz Guilford, Walsh Construction Company; Lou Storino, MWRD; Michael Rhoten, S&ME, Inc.
This webcast is fourth in a five part Community Outreach Webcast Series focusing on different outreach activities. The webcast series and was developed as part of the final project for the Water Leadership Institute (WLI).