“You’re going to be thinking, really thinking, about how much water you use every day,” Principal Cynthia Livingston said at the start of the show.
Fifth-grader Michael McDermott was brought up to the stage, where he was laden with red plastic buckets meant to represent all the everyday activities water is used for.
“This is an awful lot of work, just to get me a drink of water and a shower,” Heatherton lamented as the plastic buckets piled up.
After telling students that if water was not brought in to Southern California it would basically be barren, the performers explained how water was collected in reservoirs and directed to dry regions using aqueducts.
To demonstrate the point, the performers built two sets of winding tubes meant to represent the Colorado River Aqueduct and the California Aqueduct. The students were divided into two teams, and raced balls — meant to represent water — through the system.
At the end of the event, the performers “deputized” all the students as “water police,” giving them the power to gently remind others not to waste water.
“They were really funny, and I learned a lot that I didn’t know before,” sixth-grader Amanda McNamee said.
The program was commissioned three years ago by the San Diego County Water Authority, said Mark Beckwith, who co-wrote the show. Since then, the program has toured schools throughout Southern California.
“I personally have a strong belief in conservation and helping protect the environment,” Beckwith said.
Passing on information about water and the environment to children is one way to help, Beckwith said.
The Fremont PTA will bring about six assemblies to the school this year on a range of topics, said PTA 1st Vice President Liz Schetina.
The show was performed twice, once for first through third grades and once for fourth through sixth grades.
ANGELA HOKANSON covers education. She may be reached at (818) 637-3238 or by e-mail at angelahokanson@latimes.com.
