On October 6th, 121 elementary students from 4 local schools participated at the Children’s Water Festival, held at the Almonte Fairgrounds and organized by the Environmental Education Committee of Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists. The students were invited to learn about water treatment, water quality, and water conservation through 15 interactive demonstration stations, monitored and interpreted by 30 ADHS students who had been prepared for the task by their science teacher, Emily Sheffield, and the River Institute, an organization which researches all things water, affiliated with St Lawrence College and McGill University.
The October weather cooperated nicely for the event and the students enthusiastically worked through the stations in the relatively short time available. Students, teachers, parent volunteers, and MVFN organizers all seemed to agree that it was well worth the effort and should be repeated next year at other towns around the region.
Our thanks go out to the many agencies which supported this Festival: the Municipality of Mississippi Mills, the North Lanark Agricultural Society, the Upper Canada District School Board, the Catholic School Board Of Eastern Ontario, the Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists, and the River Institute. None of this could have happened without the support and encouragement of the staff and students and volunteers of these organizations.