Why Water

Team members: Selena Anderson, Barrett Black, Guy Boyle, Tamika Cannon, Polly Edwards-Padgett, Kathryn Harvey, Jay Jenkins, Kaitlin Watts

According to a recent report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. is facing a critical shortage of water sector workers. These workers perform crucial roles in providing communities with safe drinking water and wastewater treatment. In the next five to ten years, water sector workers will retire in unprecedented numbers, leaving a shortage of these essential service providers. This shortage threatens to cause water insecurity within communities and disrupt infrastructure at all levels.

Why Water? seeks to invigorate middle school students to pursue a career in the diverse field of water professionals as a response to this looming crisis. The program will aim to educate seventh grade students on the importance of water in the ecosystem and communities, as well as the vital role of water professionals. Why Water? will introduce students to the numerous career paths within the water industry.

Spartanburg Water professionals will partner with participating middle schools to present information to students about the roles, responsibilities and educational or experiential requirements of a career with the industry. The professionals will represent diverse careers within the industry, such as various engineering roles and administrative position, with a goal of appealing to a broad spectrum of interests and skills among students.

The project highlight will be a water tower competition. Students from each seventh-grade science class at participating schools will construct a functional water tower, built to scale, utilizing supplies provided by Why Water? One winner will be chosen per school. The competition will allow students to test engineering principles through hands-on experience. The water towers will be judged based upon originality, functionality, innovation and sustainability.

The project will be hosted at participating middle schools in Spartanburg County and incorporated into the fall science curriculum. A survey of several school districts in Spartanburg County revealed a high level of enthusiasm for Why Water. The surveys indicated that it is very important to the schools that the project curriculum aligns to the South Carolina College and Career-Ready Science Standards. It is also important that the water tower competition includes a STEAM integration.

The project is aimed towards engagement, education and exploration