Make a Splash with Project WET is a national day of water education. It is celebrated across the United States with water festivals, which are educational, fun, and interactive water celebrations where students explore a diversity of water-related topics.

Make a Splash takes place annually on the fourth Friday in September.

Area 4th and 5th graders from Lafayette, Red Boiling Springs, and Westside attended this year's water festival themed "Every Drop Counts."

Students visited learning stations where they actively engaged in hands-on water activities. Station topics included the hydrologic cycle, ground water, spring water, water quality, wetlands, water management, water conservation, soils, and the properties of water.

The word turbidity was added to their vocabularly, when they learned about suspended particles in water. Several students felt the magic pull of water when they tried their hands at "witching water", and what it was like use water from a well.

The average family of three uses about 200 gallons of water per day. One hundred years ago that family used only about 20 gallons per day. Students participated in a relay race depicting drawing water from the well and transporting it without waste. They were then encouraged to be more conservative with water usage.

Festivals are designed to emphasize water education principles within a fun, interactive environment. Unlike traditional "look and leave" field trips, Project WET Water Festivals provide a solid educational framework for teachers and students. Pre- and post-festival activities and creative assessments are included in materials provided to all participating teachers to help reinforce the lessons from the festival. While grounded in water science principles, water festivals also promote multidisciplinary approaches to learning by incorporating social studies, geography, language arts, art and journaling.

National coordinator Rab Cummings traveled from Montanna to visit the festival held in Macon County. He said this event would not be possible without the support of their sponsors. Nestle' Waters helps make Project Wet possible for over 50,000 students nationwide. Local banks and the Macon County Retired Teachers Association also contributed to make the festival a success. After attending a water festival, teachers may apply for grant monies to be used in their classroom to reinforce water education.

The first Make a Splash with Project WET water festivals were held around the United States on September 22, 2000. With 2005 marking a 5th anniversary, Make a Splash has grown to the largest one day water education event in the world.

One of the core beliefs of Project WET is that that wise water management is crucial for providing tomorrow's children with social and economic stability in a healthy environment. Awareness of and respect for water resources can encourage a personal, lifelong commitment of responsibility and positive community participation.