Testimonials:
Drinking Water Institute - Water Works!

Award-Winning Program: 
Recipient of a 2002 Education Award from American Water Works Association

What graduates are saying about the Drinking Water Institute

The workshop was extremely well planned because it covered such a variety of issues related to drinking water. Hard facts were presented from a variety of sources, but then we were also given the resources needed to translate the information into high-quality lessons for our students.

Since the workshop, I have included a multi-week unit on drinking water into my curriculum and feel that it’s one of the best that I teach.

Molly Leifeld
Valley View Middle School
Bloomington, Minnesota

At Drinking Water Institutes, teachers learn about drinking water and ways of teaching the topic in their classrooms.

Since the first Institute was held in 2001, thousands of students in Minnesota have learned more about the world’s most important resource—drinking water—as the result of their teachers having participated in this innovative program.

Conducted with the participation of the Science Museum of Minnesota, the Drinking Water Institute has been recognized with a national education award from American Water Works Association.

For more information, visit the Institute’s website

I am brand new to Minnesota and newly married. My husband is a born and raised in Minnesota. I was transformed and inspired by the 3 days I spent at St. Paul Regional Water Services. Thank you for your time, knowledge and all you do to keep our water clean. I came home every night unable to stop talking about it to my husband.

Alina Fahlin (2024 Attendee)
K-5 Science Teacher 
Avail
Blaine, Minnesota

I just wanted to say thank you for the opportunity to engage in WaterWorks this summer in Oakdale! I work in that community, and gained some useful knowledge and activities to be able to use in my classroom. We have already done some explorations this year in my 7th grade class, including identifying which clear liquid is water and researching the Flint water crisis. My students loved it!

Katie Pangborn (2020 Attendee)
Life Science Teacher 
Building Instructional Leader 
John Glenn Middle School
Oakdale, Minnesota

Thank you so much for making the Waterworks Class available to me (and every other teacher lucky enough to have attended over the years). I learned so much from the course and I am super excited about teaching drinking water to my students. I am definitely a better teacher for having attended. Thanks, again!

Kevin Molohon (2019 Attendee)
Science Teacher 
District STEM Fair Coordinator 
Champlin Park High School

It was fantastic! I found the lesson plans and the ideas to be very helpful, and my students enjoyed it, as well. It gave my students and me a better understanding of water and where it comes from.

My future goal is to someday use the internet to do a “water project” with other classrooms all over the world. This workshop gave me that idea.

Michele Torgrimson
Brooklyn Center High School
Brooklyn Center, Minnesota

This class was extremely interesting to me as it gave new ideas and ways to look at the things that I do. The information that I learned at the class from the experts as well as from other teachers was great. We learned new information and also shared what we were doing and could do now. We were a diverse group with a common purpose to learn all that we could about drinking water and share with our students all that we learned.

I still remember Stew Thornley’s comment, “Safe drinking water saves more lives than medicine.” Students realize how fortunate they are by the time that we finish this unit. As someone once said, “You never miss what you have until you no longer have it.”

Margaret Claus
Winona Middle School
Winona, Minnesota

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