By Kerry Lyman
Fernley students will get a chance to learn how their city’s water system works and explore careers tied to it under a partnership approved by the City Council on Feb. 18.
The Council approved funding for two Poseidon Education programs, aimed at fifth graders at Fernley Intermediate School, and 9th and 10th graders at Fernley High School, following a presentation by Poseidon Education Chief Executive Officer Patti Diaz-Zachary.
The programs have an internship component that “will allow students to add this program to their resumes and college applications. We also guide them into the workforce without having to go to a four-year college,” Diaz-Zachary said.
“I do believe this is a really good program to get our kids really thinking about where our water comes from” and what a precious resource it is, said Mayor Neal McIntyre.
The Water Resource Leadership Program for fifth grade students will explore city water operations from source to treatment, distribution and use, using Fernley Intermediate School as the study site. Students will study the school’s wastewater, stormwater, reclaimed water and irrigation components, Diaz-Zachary said.
In addition, students will perform taste tests of tap, bottled and filtered water “so they will understand they don’t have to buy plastic water bottles,” she said.
The goal for the fifth graders will be for them to develop a Water Resource Management Plan for their school and share the plan with the school and the city, Diaz-Zachary said.
The Water Works: Dig In Program for 9th and 10th grade high school students will study planned upgrades to Fernley’s East Wastewater Treatment Plant, examining how the city safely treats and discharges effluent into the Fernley Wildlife Management Area, she said.
Students will examine blueprint plans, go on a field trip to examine the city wastewater treatment plant and meet with professionals in the field such as the project manager, the construction manager and an equipment operator. The high school students will also present their findings to the fifth graders, she said.
The high school program “really gets into the nuts and bolts of career paths in the water industry,” Diaz-Zachary said. The program provides “an opportunity to enter our young people into the workforce of construction, public works and wastewater treatment,” according to Barry Williams, the city’s public works director.
They will learn what it takes to get a project from concept to completion, which could take three to four years of planning and two to three years of construction, Williams said.
The council approved $33,500 for the two programs, to be funded from the city’s Water Enterprise Fund.
Diaz-Zachary said the programs can begin in the schools this March and the teachers trained in the programs will be able to teach the curriculum in perpetuity.
Poseidon Education has been delivering school-based water education programs for 10 years in three states, with more than 100 completed programs teaching 3,500 students in California, Nevada and Hawaii. In Nevada, it has worked in Washoe, Lyon, Clark, Elko and Carson City Counties, Diaz-Zachary said.
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