Students Trade Pencils for Hip Waders in Water First Workshops

For children across Turtle Island, the fall marks a return to school, routine, and endless possibilities for learning in the months to come. But for some students, the opportunity to learn will move far beyond the classroom walls, where pencil and paper are traded in for boots and hip-waders. These are the students taking part in hands-on workshops led by the education and training organization, Water First.

Through its School Water Program, Water First, a registered charity, offers students in Kindergarten through Grade 12 the opportunity to take part in water science workshops and courses that prioritize experiential, or land-based learning. From testing water quality to studying fish habitats, every lesson connects students to their environment while fostering curiosity, confidence, and a lifelong dedication to protecting water.

But the commitment to land-based education doesn’t just mean being hands-on – or in Water First’s programs, feet-wet. It means working with the community to include local Knowledge Holders, experts, and teachers in every workshop. Water First works with Indigenous communities to offer engaging, relevant programming – and who knows the local environment better than the people that live there? It is this merging of Western science and traditional, land-based knowledge sharing that makes the Water First programs truly unique.

“To be out on the land, to be learning from the land, and then to take that knowledge back and also work with it in the classroom leads to a really fulsome and complete learning experience,” says Dillon Koopmans, a teacher of Potawatami descent and the Senior Manager of Water First’s School Water Program.

This collaborative approach also extends to the inclusion of mentors from other Water First programs. By bringing in alumni and current participants in the internships that Water First facilitates in water treatment and environmental resource management, students can learn about the many career paths where an interest in water science can lead.

And it’s a learning philosophy that works. This experiential, collaborative approach acknowledges that learning is influenced by and grounded in our community values, customs, beliefs, culture, and history. It takes into account that all students have a different relationship to the institution of education. It offers students the chance to explore and express their interests in learning in a meaningful way. 

This past year alone, the Water First School Water Program delivered over 30 workshops to more than 2,200 students in Indigenous communities from coast to coast to coast, with even more planned for this school year. The feedback from teachers, administrators, and students alike is overwhelmingly positive, with invitations to return to communities to deliver programming year after year.

Training and education are just one way to help ensure that Indigenous communities have sustained access to clean water for generations to come. Learning is considerate of the impacts our actions will have on our future selves, future generations, and the future of our environment – and that starts with the youngest members of the community.

Says Koopmans, “Our program sets the stage for what can become a passion for water science, offering tangible steps that can make a difference in a student’s community, in their career, and for their environment – for their water – for years to come.”

For more information, visit www.waterfirst.ngo 

Sponsored by Water First