BLOG: 30 Years and 30,000 Students

by Marcia Lee, Central Platte Natural Resources District

In 2004, Groundwater Foundation staff approached the Central Platte Natural Resources District (CPNRD) about handing over their flagship youth event—the state’s first Children’s Groundwater Festival, which had been held in Grand Island, Nebraska since it began in 1989.

The CPNRD staff was excited to take on the challenge. In 2005, the Foundation and the NRD co-coordinated the event for a smooth transition. CPNRD staff Kelly Cole, programs coordinator, and Marcia Lee, information/education specialist, have been coordinating it ever since.

“That first year on our own we were both eager and nervous about taking on a statewide event,” said Lee. “The guidance we received from the Foundation assured that everything went smoothly.”

This May marked the 30th year that the festival has brought professionals together to teach youth about all aspects of groundwater. Lee said over the 30 years, the message students take in has remained the same—groundwater is a precious resource and we all have a part in protecting and preserving it.

Over 30,000 students from across the state of Nebraska have attended the Festival over the years. The festival model has been replicated in 42 states in the United States, and in Mexico, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom. At the Nebraska festival, students participate in 25-minute in-depth classroom activities and a stage show that relate to groundwater. Professionals from state and local agencies, environmental organizations, and other volunteers teach about groundwater interactions with surface water and effects of pumping, the Ogallala aquifer, pollinators, stream flows, wetlands, pollution, drinking water, recycling, wastewater, industry use, the water cycle, water filtration, municipal systems, and more.

Festival coordinators set each school’s schedule, placing the students in six different activity topics, where various they learn about their topic through fun hands-on activities, games, and relay races.

Teachers are provided a pretest to give to their students prior to attending the festival and then a post-test following the event. “We’ve found that students retain information better when they are  personally involved in the activities, so we encourage every presenter to make their activity
interactive,” Lee said.

Cole said a few changes have been made over the years. The first was to rename the event the Nebraska Children’s Groundwater Festival and partner with the Grand Island Community Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The Festival Committee reaches out to businesses and individuals each year for donations to cover equipment, materials, and sack lunches provided to students, teachers, presenters, and volunteers beyond the $10,000 that the CPNRD budgets annually for the festival.

A change that will take effect in 2020 is the shift from inviting both fourth and fifth grade students to only fifth grade. The Festival Committee worked with the Nebraska Department of Education to determine which grade-level best fit the Festival with the new science standards, and determined that the festival correlates with fifth grade curriculum. The change will also allow schools to be on an every-other-year rotating invitation.

The festival’s location is also a vital aspect to the number of schools that can attend. Since its inception, the festival has been held in Grand Island, which is a central location for most schools in the state.

“We’re so fortunate to have Central Community College and College Park as partners,” said Cole. “They’ve allowed us to take over their campuses to hold the festival at no cost for 30 years.”

A good indicator that the festival is successful are the evaluations that are returned each year. Teachers, presenters, and volunteers are encouraged to complete evaluation forms to help the coordinators make improvements each year.

Even better indicators are letters from college students. The CPNRD has received several letters from former students who say they appreciate the opportunity to attend the festival as elementary students and that it opened their eyes to their career path.

“It’s incredibly rewarding when we receive those letters,” Lee said. “It’s gratifying to know that the Nebraska Children’s Groundwater Festival has made a personal impact on someone’s life and that they share the same devotion to groundwater that we do.”

Cole and Lee say the event seems to get easier each year and they don’t lose as much sleep as that first year. The hard work is worth it, and they hope the Nebraska Children’s Groundwater Festival continues to impact students— at least another 30,000 Nebraska youth over the next 30 years.

For more information about the Nebraska Children’s Groundwater Festival, visit www.cpnrd.org/groundwater-festival.

BLOG: Wayne's Story

by Jennifer Wemhoff, Groundwater Foundation

Wayne Madsen loved groundwater. He spent his career as a well driller with the family business he inherited from his father, tapping into the groundwater resources of Southwest Nebraska. He had a vision for the next generation of groundwater professionals, that they would be educated, engaged, and community-minded.

Wayne acted to make that vision a reality.

Wally and Wanda Water Drop

He saw the value in educating youth about groundwater. He was heavily involved in educating tens of thousands of kids at the Groundwater Foundation’s Nebraska Children’s Groundwater Festival. There they learned what groundwater is, how it moves, how we all rely on it, and planted the seeds for a lifetime of groundwater stewardship. Many kids even got to see firsthand what a well drilling rig looked like, and were fascinated by the process of tapping the resource that brought water to their homes. Wayne was instrumental in created “Wally and Wanda Water” water drop costumes that made the rounds at parades, fairs, festivals and home shows throughout Nebraska. He and his wife, Jean, even donned those costumes from time to time, bringing another element of fun to learning about groundwater to both kids and their parents.

Wayne’s hometown of Trenton, Nebraska also became a Groundwater Guardian thanks to, you guessed it, Wayne’s leadership. He wanted the broader community to know about the water they drank and that its protection was up to them. He spoke at meetings and events, pulled a float in area parades promoting the Groundwater Guardian team and groundwater, championed wellhead protection efforts, and volunteered significant time and expertise to other Groundwater Foundation educational programs.

Wayne Madsen receives the
Kremer Award in 2000

Wayne was a well-respected groundwater professional – he served on the Nebraska Well Drillers Association Board of Directors as its President and chaired the Public Affairs Committees. He worked with the Nebraska Legislature to adopt water well licensing laws, state water well construction standards, and continuing education requirements for water well professionals. His fellow groundwater professionals even named an award after him – the Wayne Madsen Award for Community Service.

The vision Wayne had for the future water professionals is here. You can follow his example for community engagement and education by getting involved with the Groundwater Foundation. Supporting the Foundation’s youth education and community action programs will help create a bright future for groundwater.

BLOG: Groundwater Perspectives: Part 2

by Bob Swanson, Retired Director, USGS Nebraska Water Science Center

I promised my perspectives on the Groundwater Foundation at the end of the first installment of this blog. It is surprising to realize that relationship is measured in decades.

Attendees at the 1990 Children's Groundwater Festival

To begin with, I was wrong. Not all the time, but certainly at key turns in my journey with the Groundwater Foundation. I first encountered Groundwater Foundation, like many Nebraskans, at the Children’s Groundwater Festival. I don’t remember if it was the 1989 or 1990 Festival, but I was participating with the Nebraska USGS team and thinking that this would be like our usual outreach events. That would be 10-30 participants for a class, a Scouting group, or other organizations. I was totally unprepared for the Festival that would eventually be replicated at over 40 other locations. It was usually difficult to get students enthused about science, in general, and groundwater, in particular.

I was wrong. Hundreds of students went through presentations all day long. They were excited. They had fun. They were engaged. That certainly wasn’t my last Festival and I was never surprised by the enthusiasm of a Children’s Groundwater Festival again.

Participants at an artesian spring at Groundwater University in 1995.

Fast forward a few years and I was participating as faculty in Groundwater University while stationed at North Platte, Nebraska. The idea of dedicating a week of time to accompany teens wasn’t foreign. I did that pretty often with my son’s Boy Scouts Troop. However, making the jump from one-day festival to week-long full immersion (pun intended) experience. That, I thought, was well too deep to pump and I selfishly wondered if I’d be bored that week. Wrong again.

The team of faculty, volunteers, and staff that Groundwater Foundation assembled for Groundwater University created an experience that few actual university students were receiving at the time. I found a kinship in the common interest, learned more than I thought possible, and came away refreshed instead of exhausted.

Bob Swanson receives the USGS Groundwater Guardian plaque in 2008.

North Platte was also my first experience with a Groundwater Guardian Community. My USGS Science Center was an affiliate, but I was involved with the community team in North Platte. I’d belonged to a few community-based volunteer groups in the past and my initial thought was that none of them produced much more than a membership card and I fully expected to pay my dues and read the newsletter. I reluctantly admit that I was wrong, yet again. I was introduced to those Results Oriented Activities (ROA) and found we had to actually do good things and proved that we did them. Imagine that....productivity and accountability.

Following a few years in a location without Groundwater Foundation interaction and upon accepting the position of Director of the USGS Nebraska Water Science Center I found myself involved in an early tradition of the USGS Nebraska Water Science Center and the Groundwater Foundation. One of my duties, as Director, was to visit Congressional staff and report on the activities of my Center. Early in Groundwater Foundation’s history, Susan Seacrest, founding President of the Groundwater Foundation, began accompanying the Center Director on those visits to leverage interest in groundwater science and to visit with leadership at our national headquarters. Jane Griffin continued that tradition when she became President of Groundwater Foundation. I would prepare to try to communicate in a 10-15 minute period the progress of the previous year’s science activities for a USGS Science Center. I could only focus on so many things. It seemed inevitable that I would pick projects and programs that the Congressional staff already understood. Susan and Jane have an innate insight into people and I found myself always focusing on the science. They would always point out the projects that connected critically with the people that the Congressional staff represented. Now maybe I wasn’t wrong, but I wasn’t focusing on the right thing and Groundwater Foundation helped me to learn that lesson. I found that insight to be invaluable. That leaves me proud to be wrong.

One last observation is that I never met a Groundwater Foundation employee that I wouldn’t count as a friend. Thanks, Groundwater Foundation.

Next time...Perspectives on data.

__________

Robert Swanson was Director of the USGS Nebraska Water Science Center (NEWSC) from 2004 until his retirement in 2017. The NEWSC has 40 dedicated water science professionals, support personnel, and students and offices in Lincoln and North Platte, Nebraska. He oversaw a science program that is managed through two sections, Hydrologic Surveillance and Hydrologic investigations. The USGS operates over 130 streamgaging stations, about 70 continuous groundwater recorders, and compiles ground-water levels for over 5,000 wells in Nebraska.  

Prior to 2004, he gained a wide range of experience in the Hydrologic Surveillance (Data) Section as a hydrologic technician and hydrologist in the Lincoln, Cambridge, Ord, and North Platte Field Offices. He served as field hydrologist for the National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program's Central Nebraska River (CNBR) Basins Study Unit research team and later as CNBR Study Unit Chief.  From 1999 to 2004, Bob was assigned to the USGS Wyoming Water Science Center as the Chief of Hydrologic Surveillance. He has also been Acting Director for both the Iowa and Missouri Water Science Centers. He has served on numerous committees for the advancement of science and technology in the USGS, as well as business practice committees.

BLOG: Have you been to a water festival?

by Jennifer Wemhoff, The Groundwater Foundation

This week I was digging through our photo archive (yes, we still have a print photo archive, complete with negatives!) looking at pictures of the Nebraska Children's Groundwater Festival. It's been about 12 years since The Groundwater Foundation organized this festival (the community of Grand Island has done a fantastic job since taking over the festival, and has made it their own) and while we participate as a presenter every year, we miss out on seeing the impact of the festival as a whole. 

Looking through the pictures reminded me of three things - the fun those kids had learning about groundwater, the effort it takes to put on a festival, and the amazing people we met along the way.

Enjoy this look back. And if you've never been part of a water festival, you're missing out! Consider getting one started in a local school or in your community

Wally and Wanda Water Drop were the festival's mascot in its early years.

Former Nebraska Governor Kay Orr and Groundwater Foundation founder Susan Seacrest. The festival often played host to a number of VIP attendees, including governors, senators, EPA and USGS directors, and local celebrities.

The festival included an exhibit hall, which was a student favorite.

Kids got to learn in a fun, hands-on environment.

A student poster contest was also part of the festival.

Willard Scott, weather guy for the Today show in the 80s/90s, paid a visit to the festival.

GW Gecko became the new mascot of the festival in the early 2000s.

Students participate in a festival "game show" with their peers.

Presenters were happy to wear goofy hats to help kids learn about groundwater!

The relationships with people like former Groundwater Foundation board member Marlene Rasmussen made organizing the festival more meaningful.

Kids just wanna have fun!

Former Governor and Senator Mike Johanns was a frequent festival guest.

Nebraska football legend Tom Osborne, and U.S. Senator at the time, Tom Osborne and his wife Nancy show off their festival t-shirts.