Locally Led Success
Big Sioux Water Festival
 For 13 years, the Brookings Conservation District has co-sponsored the
Big Sioux Water Festival along with East Dakota Water Development District
and South Dakota State University personnel. The Festival is held
the 2nd Thursday of May on the campus of South Dakota State University.
Each year the Festival reaches approximately 1200 4th graders from
the surrounding counties as well as 300 adults. The Festival is designed
to promote water and all its properties to a group that we hope will
carry the event's impact into their adult lives.
As environmental issues become more prevalent, we feel the need for
this type of educational effort is vital. Water is a very valuable resource.
It is used in every aspect of life. The Festival reaches a large diverse
audience. In many cases, the Festivals are a closure of a water science
unit from which the children have had an opportunity to study water and
water related issues. We feel the Festival is a reinforcement of the
teacher's efforts to help their students understand the difficulties that they may encounter in the future as they become caretakers of our water resources.
Festival personnel work year round to provide quality educational opportunities
to all participants. We provide expertise, materials, activities, area-specific
information, classroom curriculum and host workshops for educators who
wish to teach a water unit. The last couple of years we have created
a wetlands trunk and a lakes & streams trunk filled with classroom curriculum, games, books and videos that teacher's
can use in the classroom. These have proved to be a huge success!
The Big Sioux Water Festival has works with many local, state and national
agencies, institutions and companies to give participants the highest
quality water education possible. Presenters and volunteers have come
from several different states to offer their time and expertise. |
