Water is Life.
Water education is key to Arizona's economic development
and future.
Arizona Project WET (APW) has grown to be Arizona’s leading water education program for teachers and students at all grade levels. APW receives grant funds from federal, state, city, and public and private companies to deliver research-based, quality professional development workshops for teachers. This funding makes educational curricula and resources that meet the Arizona State Academic Standards available to teachers at no cost to them.
APW has trained over 4,400 teachers and educators in full day professional development workshops since 2000. Those teachers and educators report reaching 301,761 students annually. Arizona Project WET workshop attendance has grown from serving 187 teachers in 2001 to serving over four times that number annually for each of the last three years. APW delivers professional development workshops on the revised Water Full Option Science System (FOSS) Kit for participating districts across the state, works individually to meet school district needs, and offers content specific workshops at all grade levels.
I love how I'm able to cross the curriculum while I'm using the lessons. Kids need to see how science involves all aspects of learning and the lessons from Project Wet support that.
Jayne Lee, 7th grade teacher at Cottonwood Middle School, Cottonwood, AZ
In addition, Arizona Make a Splash with Project WET Water festivals have engaged and instructed 17,417 4th grade students and 757 teachers in standards-based water education across Arizona. This project attracts and spends up to $90,000 annually in funding sent through the University of Arizona. Demand for the APW program increases each year. The Arizona Make a Splash with Project WET Water Festivals went from serving 300 students and 10 teachers in one area of the state in 2000 to serving 6,289 students and 262 teachers in eight areas of the state 2006.
Arizona Project WET has an Advisory Council which meets monthly, helps guide outreach and programming and seeks to secure adequate funding to ensure program sustainability. It is comprised of representatives from the Bureau of Reclamation, Arizona Department of Water Resources, Central Arizona Project, Salt River Project, City of Phoenix, Tucson Water, City of Flagstaff and the UA Department of Agricultural Education.
