Background
Providing safe and reliable drinking water to a population of 200,000 and growing is just one of the many challenges that Irving faces for the future. A large majority of citizens are not aware of the issues relating to their community’s water. With out education and outreach tools, citizens become misinformed or not informed at all when it comes to the basic knowledge of their community’s water. For Water Utilities to protect and manage the community’s water resources, our citizens need to understand more about it. One of the main goals of Irving’s Water Utility is to educate the public about water as a resource as well as the responsibilities of their utility. In an effort to increase and enhance outreach efforts in Irving, the city decided to partner with Council for Environmental Education (CEE) for a program like WET in the City. This program not only informs but educates our citizens, by starting with our teachers and students. These workshops are an opportunity for educators to learn more about Irving’s water resources, and the challenges that their Utility faces.

For 30 years, CEE has been a nationally recognized leader in environmental education, providing programs and services that promote responsible stewardship of natural resources. CEE's programs operate actively in all fifty states and in six countries including Canada, Czech Republic, India, Iceland, Japan and Sweden. CEE is a 501 (C) 3 non-profit educational organization founded in 1970. The mission is to provide environmental education programs and services that promote stewardship of the environment and further the capacity of learners to make informed decisions. To accomplish its mission, CEE supports programs and partnerships for environmental education. A hallmark of CEE's co-sponsored programs (Project WILD, Project Learning Tree, Project WET, and WET in the City) is a commitment to balanced, non-biased environmental education. CEE's programs are among the most long-lived and successful environmental education efforts in the nation

Wet in the City in Irving
The City of Irving has teamed up with the Council for Environmental Education to give teachers, youth group leaders and nature educators the opportunity to get WET (Water Education for Teachers) in the City of Irving. WET in the City, an environmental education program focused on water resources, is designed to advance water education and environmental stewardship among urban youth through innovative, interdisciplinary, standards-based K-12 curriculum activities. WET in the City is sponsored in Irving by the City of Irving Public Works Department/Water Utilities.

The first WET in the City workshop in Irving was held at the National Scouting Museum on October 28, 2006. During the workshop, teachers from across the Irving area had the opportunity to become molecules of water traveling on an incredible journey through the water cycle. They were challenged to use their scientific sleuthing skills to determine which, if any, clear liquids on the planet Zork was water. Then they worked to determine how much water was being lost from a leaky faucet over the course of a year. These experiences are designed to help educators better implement activities from the WET in the City Curriculum and Activity Guide in their classrooms and learning environments.

In addition to engaging in hands-on, minds-on WET in the City activities, workshop participants networked with other educators and water resource professionals from the City of Irving Public Works Department/Water Utilities. Educators learned about Irving's water environment and local water issues and discussed how to incorporate local water themes into the WET in the City activities they plan to use in their classrooms.

This very successful workshop set the stage for other WET in the City workshops scheduled to take place in Irving in the coming year. The workshops are open to all educators and the schedule is as follows:

For further information about WET in the City or to register for the workshop, contact the Council for Environmental Education at 713-520-1936 or Irving Water Utilities at 972.721.2241.

CEE Contact:
Jeff Dornbos
Phone - 713-520-1936
Email - jeffdcee@aol.com

City of Irving Contact:
Dennis King
Phone – (972) 721-2241
Email – dking@cityofirving.org