The Great Water Challenge

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Dec. 17, 2010

Sunrise Park Middle School in White Bear Lake, Minn., threw pies at their teachers after reaching their goal for their partner school in Tanzania. The kids at Quaker Valley School in Sewickly, Pa., held a bucket walk, carrying water for three miles to raise money for a school in Sudan. They also sold strips of duct tape to students, and then duct-taped their teacher to wall. Even Bethlehem Covenant Day Care in Minneapolis, Minn., held a trike-a-thon for a school in Guatemala!

And it's not just about fundraising. Johnson and Hall believe learning about water is a priority too. They have developed a flexible curriculum relating to various subjects and grades, so teachers can connect the project to what their students are learning in class.

PHOTO: H20 for Life connects schools across America with schools in other countries that don't have clean bathrooms, sinks, or even running water. Incredibly, that's half of all the schools in the developing world.

Courtesy H20 for Life

H20 for Life connects schools across America... View Full Caption

Riding Against the Clock to Bring Blood Watch Video

Camels: Kenya's Mobile Medical Units Watch Video

Fighting 'Compassion Fatigue' Watch Video

"So our Tool Kit contains connections for Language Arts, connections for Science, connections for Math, connections for Social Studies, connections for an Art class, a Music class, a Tech class," said Patty Hall. "French teachers have chosen schools that teach French because they want to have that connection for their students."

Take Action:

Schools in the U.S. can pick their partner school on the website www.h2oforlifeschools.org.

"If a U.S. school wants to take on a partner, they simply go to our website, look under available partners- and they will see a list of names, partners, and prices in countries," said Johnson "Our first year we had one school, the 2nd year we had 16 on board… this year right now we are sitting at about 150," said Johnson. "I am hoping by the end of our school year, we have HUNDREDS more on board."

We can be the change.