April Showers
by Kaitlynn, Gr. 6 — Westglen Elementary School, Edmonton, AB
April 2010 — In the month of April the Westglen Earth Patrols concentrated educating others about on conserving water and the importance of water. They did conservation education and had a whole display dedicated to saving water. They sent home tally sheets, from SEEDS Water Conservation Project, and are now adding up how many monthly water actions the whole school does. These actions include; keeping a pitcher of drinking water chilled in the fridge, collecting rainwater or melted snow for plant, requesting water only when you plan to drink it and avoiding washing clothes after each wearing.
The Earth Patrols also made a water conservation movie, showing what you shouldn’t do and what you should do to help save water. It was complete with a ‘Water Wizard’ and a ‘Wasting Witch’. The ideas that were used in the movie included; going to a carwash instead of washing a car with a hose, (because the carwash collects the used water and reuses it), using the dishwasher only when there’s a full load, having five minute showers instead of long baths, and turning off taps tightly to stop water from dripping.
Westglen became hosts to two very special guests, Ryan Hlerjac and Finn Case. Ryan is a 19 year old guy from Ontario who decided to save up money to build wells in Uganda when he was six. He got his idea after hearing from his teacher that people were dying from lack of clean water and with donations from many people; he finally completed his first well. Later, he founded ‘Ryan’s Well Foundation’, which is entirely committed to building wells in Africa. Finn Case is from Edmonton, and decided to do the same thing in kindergarten, without even knowing of Ryan. Since then, over 500 wells have been built in Africa, in 16 countries, thanks to Ryan and Finn. Westglen raised over $1000 dollars for Ryan’s Well Foundation in one day.
On Earth Day, Westglen had an open house where the Earth Patrols shared info about water conservation with the community. They showed them their display, which included a great visual display of 84 four litre milk jugs, which is the equivalent of how much water an average family uses a day. Also on the display board were water jokes, water facts and information about Ryan and Finn.
In the month of April, the Westglen Earth Patrols shared their conservation education with Westglen and the Westmount community, and hopefully made a difference in the world.
