65 Teachers from the US and Mexico Work Together to Develop Colorado River Curriculum
Press Release - For Immediate Release
Colorado River/Education/Environment/Water
Date: 2-10-03
Contact: Elisabeth (Lissa) or Justin Howe,
Discover a Watershed: The Colorado Project
(970) 375-9047; ehowe@montana.edu; jhowe@montana.edu
Discover a Watershed: The Colorado Project, a multi-national watershed education initiative, held a writing workshop in Glenwood Springs, Colorado during January 22-26, 2003, to develop watershed-based curriculum resources for teachers and students throughout the Colorado River Watershed.
"The diversity of the group [was important]," reflected Kerry Schwartz, an educator from the Water Resources Research Center in Tucson, Arizona. "Bringing together people from two countries, nine different states, a wide variety of cultures, backgrounds, and interests to convene around a common goal is a powerful thing."
Participants at the workshop included resource managers, tribal educators, public and private school teachers, museum educators, university researchers and professors, college students, and other formal and non-formal educators. This diverse group of 60 people came from all states in the Colorado Basin (Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Baja California, and Sonora) and several Indian nations. Educators from the Water Education Foundation, Metropolitan Water District of Los Angeles, Southern Nevada Water Authority, Mexican Institute of Water Technology (IMTA), Secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT), Colorado River Water Conservation District, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) and Grand Canyon National Park were among the writing workshop team members.
The primary objectives of the workshop were to establish a network of individuals committed to the education of citizens within the Colorado Basin, and to provide a forum for peer-nominated educators to work together to create educational activities for publication in the Discover a Watershed: The Colorado Educators Guide. The Educators Guide, scheduled for publication in 2004, will include a 150-page background reference section with information about the cultures, ecology, geology, and water resources issues of the Basin, along with approximately 25 teacher-tested, creative, classroom-ready, multidisciplinary activities. The Educators Guide will be published in Spanish and English and distributed in the U.S. and Mexico.
Rita Vazquez of IMTA, Project WET Coordinator for Mexico commented, "The Colorado writing workshop was encouraging. I feel optimistic about the future of this amazing watershed after meeting so many committed people. The workshop was warm and full of spirit. Participants from both countries showed we can work together in harmony."
Discover a Watershed: The Colorado is a program of The Watercourse/International Project WET (Water Education for Teachers), an award-winning nonprofit science, natural resources, and heritage education program and publisher located on the campus of Montana State University. Discover a Watershed: The Colorado Project fills a need for non-biased and scientifically accurate watershed-based curriculum that addresses issues and topics from the entire watershed (both U.S. and Mexico). This project is part of the Discover a Watershed Series, which focuses on major watersheds in North America including the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo, the Missouri, the Columbia, and the Everglades ecosystem (to learn more, go to www.discoverawatershed.org).
Upcoming events in the Discover a Watershed: The Colorado Project include an expedition from the headwaters of the Colorado River to its mouth at the Gulf of California, in June-July 2003. The expedition team will be made up of college students from the U.S. and Mexico. A wide variety of Colorado Watershed water users will meet with the group to offer their knowledge, insights and perspectives on the river. Experiences gained by the students as they float the river, hike its canyons, and interact with local communities will enrich the curriculum development process and build participant leadership skills. The expedition will foster relationships between communities, states, and nations in education and resource management.