Water For All

Middle Years 2008/2009 School Year

One of the key development issues of the next century is access to clean, safe water. Water - although a renewable resource - is increasingly threatened by industry, overuse, and privatization. Access to clean water for drinking, household use and agriculture is a critical development issue.

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MCIC’s Generating Momentum for Our World: Water for All conferences focused on how access water impacts the health of people and communities. Students explored how access to water impacts health, education, and other development goals.

The conference was a one-day event. The opening session began at 9 a.m., and during that time students were asked to present a brief overview of their proposed activity. Students and teachers in their school groups then attended three circuit workshops. Each circuit focused on a skill area, such as facilitation that will help students further develop their planned activity. In the afternoon, students attended one creative workshop which they could incorporate into their action on water issues. During this slot, a Teachers’ Session was offered, which provided an opportunity for teachers to network with one another, as well as learn about resources that can be used in the classroom. Teachers joined their students for the closing session which offered students an opportunity to share with everyone what their group had planned. The conference finished at 3:30 p.m.

Circuit Descriptions

Sessions were 40 minutes in length attended in school groups accompanied by teachers.

Planning and Promoting: Organizing a School Activity

This circuit helped transform ideas into real action! Working in school groups, the students had the opportunity to share ideas and learn all about the nuts and bolts about planning an activity around the conference theme. They also had a chance to discuss and present their ideas on how to promote their planned activity. The final component to this circuit was exploring how to best choose appropriate images from the developed and developing world for their promotional materials.

Public Speaking: Getting the Words Out!

Have you ever had to speak in front of a group of 200 people? How about 50? Or even just in front of your own class? Anyone who’s had to do this before will tell you in can be a wobbly-legged, brain-turns-to-mush kind of experience. But it doesn’t have to be that way, people can learn skills to be confident, relaxed and (even exciting!) public speakers. This circuit taught students the skills to become a strong public speaker and to get their message across effectively.

Facilitation: Working with groups

Students learned how they can generate momentum and build a better world among friends, teachers, and their community by facilitating discussion, workshops, and activities! In this circuit they learned how to share their knowledge about global issues with others and challenge them to join the students in taking action! .

Workshop Choices

The workshops were an opportunity for students to work outside of their school groups and explore a creative workshop of their choice. The teachers stream was held concurrent to students workshops.

Video

Most people like watching movies but did you ever think you could have fun behind a camera too? This session took people through the process of creating a short video: from storyboarding to camera operation, recording to in-camera editing. Participants learned the skills to get their message out to others through video.

Silk Screening

Have you ever seen a t-shirt with a cool logo or design, and wondered how you could make that on your own? In this session participants had the chance to learn about the silk screen process, and see a design at different levels of completion.

Theatre and Improv

This workshop exposed students to the mediums of theatre and improvisation as ways of expressing personal ideas. Students were led through theatre exercises and also had a chance to try their hands at improvisation!

Digital Photography

Have you ever heard of changing colour temperature on a photo? This is just one of the many things students learned how to do in this workshop. But that is not all! Students also had the chance to learn how to take documentary-style photographs, gain good photo composition skills, use different photo file extensions and learn basic editing skills. All these cool new photo techniques helped students get their messages out using digital cameras!

Teacher’s Stream

Facilitated by MCIC staff, this session was a time for teacher’s to connect, share stories, and swap ideas. This was also a time where MCIC staff provided information about its programs and its members’ resources relevant to teachers.