KTO 2016 kicked off with Project WET activities led by Levi employees (Photo by Nathan Phillips) More than 120 children took over Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) earlier this month, and Project WET was happy to help.

The annual Kids Take Over (KTO) day at the LS&Co. international headquarters in San Francisco coincides with the “Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work” campaign in the United States. At LS&Co., the day is designed to help employees’ children understand what it means to work at the internationally known clothing company, including learning about some of LS&Co.’s core values. This year, the organizers wanted to include water education in the day’s events to stress LS&Co.’s commitment to sustainability. To prepare, Project WET Senior Vice President John Etgen traveled to San Francisco to offer a refresher training to some of the company’s skilled Water Ambassadors—employees who have been trained to use Project WET activities to teach young people about water.

Water Ambassadors led kids in activities like Blue Planet, to determine the percentage of water on Earth (Photo by Nathan Phillips) The Water Ambassadors worked on their skills leading interactive lessons that teach kids about the amount of water—and specifically, fresh water—on Earth as well as an activity focusing on water footprints and conservation. During the training, participants also discussed strategies for making the activities run smoothly, such as how to keep kids on time, make group transitions easier and keep materials replenished for large groups. This extra level of training helped the Water Ambassadors be prepared for the next day’s Kids Take Over events.

KTO 2016 kicked off with the Project WET activities—three stations for 40 minutes each—with all 120 kids getting the opportunity to take part in “lessons and games that taught kids about their water footprints and the importance of conserving one of earth’s most precious resources,” as LS&Co. explained on their Unzipped blog. Other activities for KTO included packing backpacks with school supplies for Bay Area students and a “Trashion Show” for which kids brainstormed, designed, built and marketed an outfit made entirely from recycled materials.

Kids learned about water footprints and actions they can take to reduce water consumption (Photo by Nathan Phillips) While at LS&Co. headquarters, John also conducted a training workshop for 60 employees from across the United States. Called “The Power of You”, the workshop engaged participants in water conservation activities, including helping prepare them to peer-teach several activities. The trainings and events are part of the larger commitment by LS&Co. to train 100 percent of its corporate employees in Project WET by the year 2020. The LS&Co. pledge to train employees to become water conservation ambassadors and empower them to educate their local communities about the importance of saving water was announced at the White House on World Water Day this year.

LS&Co. has been sponsoring the Project WET Foundation since 2015. Earlier this year, company leaders made a commitment at the White House to use Project WET to train 100 percent of their employees about water and sustainability by the year 2020. To learn more about what LS&Co. and Project WET are doing together, check out these stories:

• Community Day Heroes
• Levi’s Employees are Science Teachers for a Day