Water Festival on Wheels Visits North Elementary School

EAST ALTON – After its 22^nd Annual Water Festival was rained out in September, the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center took the experience on the road.

NGRREC’s Education team launched the first Water Festival on Wheels (WOW), a mobile version of the popular event, and visited North Elementary School in Godfrey on Nov. 1, engaging around 150 fifth-grade students across six different classes.

"While we were disappointed to cancel the original Water Festival, we were excited to launch WOW and continue offering engaging water education opportunities for students," Environmental Educator Jolena Pang said. "The support from our partners and the teachers and staff at North Elementary made this first mobile Water Festival a great success."

Pang worked closely with seven local partner organizations to create a hands-on educational experience, bringing water education directly to students on North’s football field, just next door to NGRREC’s parent organization, Lewis and Clark Community College. 

The event featured interactive booths and activities from seven exhibitors, each offering unique insights into water-related topics. Exhibitors included:

• SIUE STEM Center
• TreeHouse Wildlife Center
• Lewis and Clark State Historic Site
• SLU Water Institute
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• NGRREC^sm (which hosted two tables: one for research and one for outreach)

Each exhibitor worked with the students to provide hands-on learning, exploring everything from water science and local ecosystems to conservation efforts and sustainable practices.

The continuation of the Water Festival program would not have been possible without the generous support of key sponsors, including:

• American Water
• Ameren
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• Enbridge
• Bayer Fund
• Swarovski Foundation Waterschool
• Phillips 66 Wood River Refinery

These partners enabled NGRREC to continue offering vital environmental education to students in the region.

Looking ahead, Pang plans another Water Festival on Wheels event later this fall and additional events scheduled for Spring 2025. These events will continue to bring valuable water education to schools across the region.

Visit https://www.ngrrec.org/education/water-festival.html to learn more about Water Festival. Learn more about Swarovski Waterschool by visiting https://www.ngrrec.org/education/swarovski.html.

For more information or questions about the Water Festival or Swarovski Waterschool, please contact the NGRREC Education Team at NGRRECEducation@lc.edu.

National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC℠)

Founded in 2002 as a collaborative partnership between the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Lewis and Clark Community College, NGRREC is dedicated to the study of great river systems and the communities that use them. The center aspires to be a leader in scholarly research, education, and outreach related to the interconnectedness of large rivers, their floodplains, watersheds, and their associated communities. To learn more about NGRREC, visit www.ngrrec.org.