{"id":618,"date":"2026-05-19T10:54:04","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T10:54:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emplace.siue.edu\/stl\/?post_type=story&p=618"},"modified":"2026-05-20T19:03:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T19:03:19","slug":"empowering-change-through-water-education","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/emplace.siue.edu\/stl\/story\/empowering-change-through-water-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Empowering Change through Water Education"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pop quiz! True or False?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Over the past forty years, the world’s population has doubled. Our use of water has quadrupled. Yet the amount of water on Earth has stayed the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

30% of pipes in systems that deliver water to more than 100,000 people are between forty and eighty years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out of 118 water samples taken in Cahokia Heights eight were contaminated with E.coli.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you said all of these are true \u2014 you’re correct!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

INTRODUCTION<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We are six students from the Community-Oriented Digital Engagement Scholars (CODES)<\/a> at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE)<\/a> working to educate the youth about good water conservation practices in hopes that they bring these habits in their home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meet the team!<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Tamiria Dixon<\/strong>
Author Bio<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Alexandra Guerrero
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Payton Plummer<\/strong>
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Justin Richerson<\/strong>
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Marques Rutilin
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Sondia Sheryr
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Faculty Mentor<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Read Dr. Martinez’s reflection about leading research teams for 2024 cohort, co-authored by Dr. Jacqueline Shea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Faculty Reflection<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Community Partner: The Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

We partnered with the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Food, Agriculture, and Nutrition Innovation Center (JJK FAN)<\/a>, a growing organization dedicated to supporting children and families. In addition, we worked with The Danforth Center<\/a>, whose partnership with JJK FAN fosters curiosity in technology and a passion for innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the Danforth Center Education Research and Outreach Lab, Zachary Stafford, Danforth\u2019s STEAM+Ag (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Agriculture) Educator and Kurly Taylor Jr., Strategic Partnership Manager, helped us understand their needs, especially the need for hands-on activities that engage kids in their community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PROJECT SUMMARY<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Our goal is to help the next generation become knowledgeable about water and climate issues. To do this, we organized a water fair at Jackie Joyner-Kersee Academy (JJK Academy)<\/a> for students ages eight to ten. The fair included four stations focused on water conservation vocabulary, soil, water runoff, and filtration. By engaging in these hands-on activities, children can begin to understand water conservation and create habits that reflect pride in protecting their environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This work is especially important in the St. Louis region, which sits on a floodplain and has aging, deteriorating infrastructure due to its heavily industrial background. For this reason, communities such as Cahokia Heights (formerly Cahokia, Centreville, and Alorton) and East St. Louis experience sewage flooding during heavy rains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our “Wicked” Problem<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

What is a “wicked” problem? We define a “wicked” problem as a problem that spans many different areas; therefore, it doesn\u2019t have an exact solution because one change can affect another part of the overall problem, leaving it unsolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The “wicked” problem we chose to address is the lack of water conservation education in schools. Based on our research, we created fun, interactive lessons for K\u20138 students and tested them through our water fair. This allowed us to see how children learn and how educators might teach these topics. We hope to inspire more schools to recognize the importance of early water education, as it can make a difference in our future water resources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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CODES Fall 2025 Showcase<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back row: Justin Richerson, Dr. Adriana Martinez, Marques Rutlin, Tamiria Dixon, Zachary Stafford<\/sub>
Front row: Payton Plummer, Sonia Sheryr, Alexandra Guerrero<\/sub><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Research Questions<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Across two years of research, we focused on two guiding questions to investigate our “wicked” problem:<\/p>\n\n\n\n