Sixth grade takes a long "Walk to Water"

Throughout Middle School, each grade takes a week-long break from the traditional schedule to investigate and research all aspects of a real-world problem, such as water conservation, reducing waste at Stuart, and living “Off the Grid.” 

We’re fortunate that this annual interdisciplinary signature experience is still able to happen for our sixth grade - though adapted for the times. What is usually in partnership with PASH, out students recently participated in "A Relatively Short Walk to Water" for the first part of their project based learning (PBL) on water conservation and scarcity.  The girls read A Long Walk to Water in English class, which is about the women of Sudan and the long journeys that they travel to obtain clean water for drinking and cooking. The girls learned how many women in Sudan travel four hours each way, sometimes twice a day, to get water. To simulate this, the students carried empty gallon jugs to the stream to fill with water and then took a sinuous walk up to the upper fields with the heavy water jugs perched on their heads. This was a time to reflect on what this walk meant to them and what it means to be in solidarity with others who live in challenging circumstances.

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