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Understanding the value of water

Three years ago, 90 students from South Broadview School walked down to a pond at Okanagan College, filled their buckets…
Water Walk
Students pose with motivational speaker Spencer West.

Three years ago, 90 students from South Broadview School walked down to a pond at Okanagan College, filled their buckets and trudged back up to the school.

The water was dumped into large plastic drums, in which the kids could see the murky liquid that is the only thing available to many people on the planet.

Now in its third year and incredibly successful, the idea was the brainchild of teachers Earl Dodds and Janu Smith.

On Monday, more than 600 students took part in the fundraising bucket brigade supported district-wide by the We to Me Committee and other schools are planning their own water walks.

Shuswap Middle School, Sorrento, Armstrong and Silver Creek are among those schools where the idea has sparked action.

“It’s all about the greater good and it shows you that anybody can make a difference,” Dodds says. “Nothing is stopping one person from coming up with an idea and it’s neat for us to foster that with the kids – one of their projects will be coming up with how they can make a difference.”

For the last two years, funds raised were directed to a village in Africa. This year a portion of the funds will go to a village in Ecuador, but local initiatives will also be supported.