Santa Fe Community College Hosts El Agua es Vida Water Festival

Santa Fe: Looking forward to being on a water-issues panel at SFCC tomorrow at 11am in the Jemez rooms. Plus, Mayor Javier Gonzales is keynoting at 10:30am. Join us!

Free event featuring the interconnection between learning and sustainability

SANTA FE, NM – What does water have to do with learning? A lot, when you’re speaking to the experts. Santa Fe Community College’s El Agua es Vida, (Water is Life) Festival is the first of its kind at the college, a new way to connect classroom teaching with real-life experience. Mayor Javier Gonzales will give opening remarks at the festival, followed by experts in the field of water conservation. The event is Weds., Oct. 22, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. in the Jemez Rooms.

Festival organizer Emily Stern, SFCC’s Title V Curriculum Specialist, believes the festival will introduce students to a new way to integrate environmental concerns into what they are learning in the classroom. She hopes to engage the community of Santa Fe as well.

“Integrated learning is about recognizing and bringing meaning to multiple experiences and perspectives, and using that process to exemplify learning,” said Stern. “The El Agua es Vida Festival will be an opportunity to see how one topic can be related to all of the disciplines across SFCC. Everything we study has a unique relationship to water, and illustrates how all of the different perspectives are part of the same conversation. The festival is a living classroom where everyone is invited to be a student and a teacher, just like in life.”

The day is filled with workshops as well as music, films, artists, food and a pumpkin-carving contest. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about current water-related issues and practical ways to participate in the college’s and Santa Fe’s conservation and awareness efforts. Free and open to the public

Schedule of Events: (unless otherwise noted, all events are in the Jemez Rooms)

10-10:30 a.m. Mayor Javier Gonzales - Welcome and opening remarks

SFCC Assistant Professor of Speech and author Andrew Lovato reads from his book, Elvis Romero and the Cosmic White Corvette

10.30 a.m. What Does Water Conservation Mean in Santa Fe, New Mexico? Roundtable discussion with Santa Fe water conservation professionals, moderated by Carmen Gonzales, Ph.D., Vice President for Student Success

Noon-2 p.m. Courtyard Festivities

· The East Wing Eatery will sell green chili stew and cider from noon-1 p.m

· Local water-related organization info tables

· SFCC student work exhibitions

· SFCC Library, DIY rain barrel catchment demonstration

· Live music with David Garcia and Jonathan Harrell

· Presentation by New Mexico Academy of International Studies Elementary

· Pumpkin Carving Contest sponsored by the East Wing Eatery with special guest carvers, President Randy Grissom and Interim Vice President for
Academic Affairs Margaret Peters

· Local artist Bobbe Besold and Wise Fool New Mexico

· Tesuque Seed Exchange

· KSFR 101.1 FM and the SFCC Film Department will conduct radio and video interviews to explore individual experiences with water

· SFCC Culinary Arts Program student demos and handmade treats

1-2 p.m. SFCC Greenhouse Tours with Greenhouse Technology Director Eric Highfield and the SFCC Aquaponics Club
Where Does Acequia Water Come From? Santa Fe Water Association Workshop

2-3 p.m. Technologies for Water Conservation in Controlled Environment Agriculture lecture and discussion with SFCC’s Greenhouse Technology Director Eric Highfield

3-4 p.m. Domestic Well Exemptions in the Southwest - A Santa Fe case study. Lecture and discussion with Maxine Paul, Preservation Associate with Environment New Mexico

4-5 p.m. And the Rivers Run Through Us: An interactive and experiential workshop with Bobbe Besold

Community engagement artist Bobbe Besold will present a short workshop based on water awareness and the Santa Fe River. Includes a short film about the Santa Fe River and visual art and poetry responses. Participants will come away with a greater understanding of not only our river, but of each other.

5-6 p.m. SFCC and IAIA Student Sustainability Leaders Skill Share

Arts and Design Student and Faculty El Agua es Vida Exhibition Opening in the Main Hallway

7 p.m. Center for Contemporary Arts CCA presentation of the documentary “DamNation,” followed by a facilitated discussion at the theater

For more information contact Emily Stern, emily.stern@sfcc.edu, 505-428-1467, or visit http://www.sfcc.edu

10/22/2014 | (0) Comments

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