120 Trent University Students Volunteer to Educate Children About the Importance of Water Conservation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Service-Learning Opportunity at Haliburton-Muskoka Children’s Water Festival to Benefit Community and Trent Students

Thursday, September 20, 2007, Haliburton

Over 120 Trent University students are heading to Haliburton this week to volunteer at the Haliburton Children’s Water Festival to educate grades three to six students about the importance of water conservation, protection, technology and ecology.

Comprised of university students taking Professor Stephen Hill’s Environment and Resource Science 100 course at Trent, these students elected to volunteer at the festival as part of an assignment he designed to help them understand how people learn about the environment. Through a partnership facilitated by U-Links, forty students signed up to participate for each day of the three-day festival, which runs from September 19 to 21.

“This is a great way for students to learn while helping the community,” said Prof. Hill. “I am really pleased to see so many Trent students take advantage of this service learning opportunity in their first year so they can understand early on how their actions can make a difference in the world.”

During the festival, Trent students will be responsible for leading activities at 35 hands-on learning stations where children will be encouraged to explore concepts such as how a dam works, how some toilets play a role in water preservation, and the water cycle. After they complete their day of volunteering, Trent students are expected to write a critical reflection about their experiences in Haliburton as it relates to the purpose and value of environmental education.

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For further information, please contact Professor Stephen Hill at (705) 748-1011, ext. 7368 or Rob Loney at (705) 748-1011 ext. 7870.