MILTON, ON — September 29, 2023 — Over 3,600 elementary school students visited Kelso Conservation Area for the 16th annual Halton Children’s Water Festival. Cohosted by Conservation Halton and Halton Region, this year’s event provided local schools with four, fun-filled days of learning from September 26-29.
“We got to do lots of activities and fun stuff with water,” said Sakshi, a Grade 3 student at Maplehurst Public School, Burlington. “The best part is being in nature because I love plants. I also learned how to recycle and went on a school bus for the first time.”
Children interacted with 60 unique learning stations, such as ‘Wildlife and Water’, ‘Regional Waterscapes’, ‘Bucket Brigade’, and ‘Highway H2O’. The stations provided curriculum links to classroom topics across four thematic areas: water and society, water conservation and protection, water health and safety, and water science and technology. More than 500 high school students participated as activity leaders and Waste Ambassadors, contributing 2,500+ volunteer hours to the festival.
“It was so great to see my [Grade 4] students learn about ecosystems, how they work and how to respect them,” said Pasquale Cerisano, Grade 4 teacher at St. Catherine of Alexandria Catholic Elementary School, Georgetown. “I’ve enjoyed all aspects of the festival, especially Highway H2O…the demonstration of water flow was amazing. It mimicked real-life water systems on a smaller scale for students to see how it works.”
The in-person event provided high-quality environmental education in an outdoor setting with views of the Niagara Escarpment and Kelso Reservoir. The festival also ran a virtual module for complementary in-class learning. In total, 28 local schools took part in the four-day festival’s in-person and in-class components.
The Halton Children’s Water Festival 2023 partners and supporters included Halton District School Board, Halton Catholic District School Board, Conservation Halton Foundation, City of Burlington, Town of Halton Hills, Town of Oakville, Wilfrid Laurier University, DSEL, GEO Morphix, and R.V. Anderson Associates.
Halton Children’s Water Festival Photo Gallery
Conservation Halton is the community-based environmental agency that protects, restores, and manages the natural resources in its watershed. The organization has staff that includes ecologists, land use planners, engineers, foresters and educators, along with a network of volunteers, who are guided by a Board of Directors comprised of municipally elected and appointed citizens. Conservation Halton is recognized for its stewardship of creeks, forests and Niagara Escarpment lands through science-based programs and services.