Creating an infrastructure of knowledge: Classroom curriculum educates on the importance of stormwater, water, and wastewater systems

In 2003, KC Water launched its Wet Weather Solution Program and formed its Wet Weather Community Panel. The purpose of the panel, which is made up of citizens and community leaders, is to help shape a plan to manage stormwater, address sewer overflows, and work to improve water quality in the Kansas City region. With an impending federal consent decree to reduce sewer overflows in the combined and...

Any utility that has dealt with curriculum development and implementation had learned that it is not as simple as creating a product and handing it to a teacher or school. Teachers are required to meet standards set forth by state agencies in the timeframes dictated by their school district. However, in most Kansas City metro area school districts, teachers are given the freedom to teach concepts...

BNIM, a local architecture firm, and Project Explore, a curriculum development company assisted KC Water in creating KC to the Sea. The curriculum had to meet not only the needs of KC Water, but also the Missouri Learning Standards required by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education if it was to be successfully implemented in the schools. KC to the Sea is provided free of...

KC Water first piloted the curriculum during the 2010–2011 school year. Six teachers participated in an educational workshop, held by the Blue River Watershed Association (BRWA), a local nonprofit watershed group, to become familiar with the curriculum and feel comfortable teaching it prior to implementation in the classroom. Based on teacher comments, KC Water refined the curriculum to make...

If a utility wants to build lasting infrastructure, they hire a competent engineer who manages a competent team to make sure that everything is done according to industry standards and up-to-date practices. Education and outreach programs must be treated with the same level of expertise.

KC to the Sea is successful because it is promoted [or marketed], reviewed, and updated by the classrooms implementing it. Through input from classroom teachers, curriculum coordinators, and students alike, the program evolved from a water quality education tool into a comprehensive program that illustrates the interconnection of water, wastewater, and stormwater.

Open dialogs with teachers and coordinators have allowed KC Water to grow the KC to the Sea program from reaching 300 students in 6 schools during the pilot year, to reaching more than 4000 students in 45 schools throughout 9 school districts in the 2016–2017 school year. In total, the program has reached more than 17,000 students. KC Water hopes that continuing to teach children will...