Important Work of the MILES Program and Favorite Water Memory

Last year I participated in the MILES Adventure workshop as an in-person learner. I found the week-long workshop on water resources and ecosystem services very useful and a whole lot of fun! MILES has given me a new perspective on how to frame my lessons on natural resources, especially water, as ecosystem services to my middle-school students in Nampa! Also, the workshop was a great example that adding an element of "adventure" can make learning much more engaging and relevant to students' lives. MILES does a lot of important work, but I think the most impactful aspect of the MILES program to me is the educational outreach like this program. If you can get a bunch of teachers excited about resource conservation and ecosystem services, and train them on how to deliver that content to their students, you can impact a whole generation of students growing up in the Treasure Valley.

Carissa posed the question, what is your favorite water memory, which I think is a very engaging prompt I'll eventually use with my own students. I already answered the question as a comment on her blog post, but I will repost it here:

My favorite water memory is recreation, whether it is swimming, boating, spending the day at a water park . . . I love being surrounded by water, how it cools the air and brings vitality to the spirit. I love water fountains that you can just hang out by and enjoy the wet ambiance. Sadly, water parks and fountains aren't always the most sustainable choice, especially in a desert climate like southwest Idaho. When I drive by housing developments decorating with fountains, I both enjoy them and get irritated, especially when they are merely decorative and not in a more park-like setting where they can be enjoyed up close and personal.