STIIX helps city of San Antonio, TX educate 'Water-Literate Citizens'

STIIX has partnered with the education team from city of San Antonio Water Systems (SAWS) to develop a ‘Water Infrastructure’ kit for use in their various education initiatives throughout the community.

Water is a finite resource- one that needs to be protected & preserved; and with that in mind, the team led by Ms. Lynne Christopher, Ms. Heather Ginsburg, & Ms. Angelica Zuniga have the mission  to shape “Water-Literate Citizens” among the community's youth.

Raising awareness surrounding the utility of water systems and its importance to society is exactly what our ‘Making the Connection’ kit collaboration is all about. The project involves getting a system design on paper, connecting a series of bending straws to resemble a pipeline, and attaching them to a plastic cup (water tower) that helps generate pressure to distribute water to a model neighborhood. SAWS leadership intends to use the kit as a souvenir for field trippers to their facilities, as well as pop-up events around the city. This activity aligns with Next Generation Science Standards and follows the infamous Engineering Design Process!

Although academic in nature, do not mistake this STEM kit for lacking excitement. The activity is hands-on & engaging, and helps achieve a goal of the collaboration, which was to help drum up excitement about potential careers in water! Check out the project page here: https://www.hellostiix.com/projects/water-systems

In the complementary video series, as seen on the project page below, students can find activity tutorials as well as learn about the project’s background, relevance to the real world, and academic principles at play in a fun and energetic way from our team of young engineers! Finally, students get the opportunity to hear from professionals in the field who share their testimonies and journey into the water industry.

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To sum up the collaboration, Ms. Angelica Zuniga (Education Programs Coordinator) had this to say:

“Stiix has been amazing to work with! We use them because not only do we believe in what they do but we were able to connect our water world in what Stiix does. We had a need and Stiix helped us fill the need. For the longest time we had been trying to figure out how we can get our “Making the Connection” activity into a kit form and then finally we met Alex. We told him what we needed and wanted and he elevated our activity to the next level. Now Making the Connection is in a box and ready to be shipped to students across our city. Stiix will help us educate our San Antonio youth on the workings of a water system for years to come!”

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Thank you to the SAWS education team- your city is lucky to have you and STIIX feels fortunate to play a small part in some of the life-changing work you do!

Visit the SAWS website to learn more about their work and mission: https://www.saws.org/

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