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Water Efficiency Grant Program Final Project WET Grant Report (CWN) <br />I. Overview and Background: <br />Project wET ("water Education for Teachers") is an internationally recognized water education <br />program whose mission is to promote responsible water stewardship through excellent and <br />effective water education. Project wET provides high quality curriculum resources and training for <br />over 30,000 educators annually throughout the United States and over 50 countries around the <br />world. Project wET is founded on the belief that youth need to develop an awareness and <br />appreciation of how water is used in everyday life if they are to understand what is happening to <br />our water resources and take action to protect and conserve our limited natural resources. <br />Project wET produces creative and accurate materials to meet water education needs <br />identified through research. The Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide is an award-winning K- <br />12resource featuring over 90 multidisciplinary water-related activities that are hands-on, easy to <br />use, and fun for students and teachers. The activities in the Project SET Curriculum and Activity <br />Guide were written for teachers, by teachers and water resource professionals. Each lesson has been <br />tested in hundreds of classrooms with thousands of students around the country before ever being <br />included in the Guide. The lessons are designed to support national, state and school district <br />learning standards while moving students from awareness to action. <br />A 1999 survey o f Project SET educators f rom around the nation showed that 95% o f teachers felt <br />Project SET had a positive impact on students' interest in water issues. The only way teachers can get the <br />innovative Project SET Curriculum and Activity Guide is by attending a workshop conducted by a <br />trained Project wET facilitator. Connecting educators with local water professionals and <br />curriculum resources through workshops and trainings gives them additional tools to effectively <br />teach students about water resource conservation. According to a Fort Collins junior high school <br />teacher, "water is part of the curriculum at every level and teachers need ready resources in order <br />to make the topic relevant and engaging. Project wET is EXACTLY what teachers need to help us <br />teach about water. The activities are field-tested, high-quality, and easy to use. The resource is <br />tremendously valuable, because there are so many relevant, standards-based topics included in one <br />book that it is very easy to find a lesson quickly no matter what topic you are teaching." <br />The driving philosophy behind Project wET is to teach youth how to think, not what to think <br />by developing critical thinking skills. According to the recent Colorado water Education Task <br />Force survey, approximately 30% of all survey respondents who utilize outside water education <br />resources incorporate Project wET materials as part of their water education program. This is <br />more than twice the amount of any other reported resources currently being used in Colorado. <br />water education is an essential component to any water efficiency or conservation program, and <br />Project wET is a proven leader in Colorado and throughout the nation. <br />II. Process: <br />The Colorado watershed Network (CWN) provides the local in-depth support that transfers <br />this award-winning program to teachers and students in communities throughout Colorado. <br />CwCB is the primary funding source for Colorado Project wET. with these funds, CWN <br />employs the Colorado Project wET Coordinator, Joanne Scarbeary. She provides support and <br />participates as a leader in water education efforts statewide and serves as a representative of <br />Colorado at the national level. This position furthers the mission of the C~XICB by providing <br />volunteer management, partnership projects, program administration, and distributing educator <br />materials and resources. <br />Page 2 <br />