Community Education & EngagementOver 6,000 fourth-grade students have attended the Children’s Clean Water Festival!
A Tillamook County 4th-Grade Tradition
In 2002, the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership established the annual Children’s Clean Water Festival (CCWF) in Tillamook County. Over the last two decades of this landmark learning event, more than 6,000 fourth-grade students have attended this festival to learn about the importance of clean water across our watersheds. Nowadays, parents who attended the CCWF as 4th-grade students are returning to the festival as chaperones for their own 4th-grade children.
Celebrating Clean Water + Healthy Watersheds
Hosted at the Twin Rocks Friends Camp, the CCWF brings together all 4th-grade students from public, private, and homeschools across Tillamook County for a day dedicated to exploring estuaries. Through this landmark learning event, TEP strives to inspire students to become responsible estuary stewards.
Upon arriving, each class is greeted by a volunteer guide who leads them through a series of presentations and exhibits about water. While one class goes on an Incredible Journey, “becoming” individual water droplets who travel through a complex life cycle, another group may take a walk to a nearby wetland where they will get personal with aquatic insects and plants. More presentations open students’ eyes to the fascinating web of life in a mud flat, or give them a chance to giggle as they watch a classmate be transformed into a water bird with lots of silly props that illustrate avian adaptations.
This day, rich in hands-on learning, doesn’t stand alone. During the months prior to the festival, the Festival Coordinator visits each classroom preparing the 4th graders for the day in the field. The Children’s Clean Water Festival program supplements 4th-grade NGSS Science Standards.
23rd Annual CCWF: Tuesday, March 19, 2024
This spring, students will branch out and explore the 2024 festival theme “Celebrating Our Wonderful Watersheds” through activities focused on the importance of clean water connecting our forests to the sea.
Volunteers are needed for the 2024 CCWF! It takes over 80 volunteers to support the 250+ students that attend this event each year. Visit our Volunteer Page to learn how to support the next generation of watershed stewards.
Recap of the 2023 CCWF:
Earlier this year, the 22nd annual CCWF was a tree-mendous triumph! When asked about their experience at the CCWF, one student wrote, “Today I learned that when sea cucumbers are scared, they throw up their innards” after exploring a tidepool touch tank. In total, 380 people participated in the 2023 CCWF, making it one of the largest CCWF events in Tillamook County history. Over 300 students, teachers, and chaperons from six different schools participated. To support all these students, TEP recruited 83 volunteers, including students from Tillamook High School. The CCWF is one example of the numerous environmental education programs in Tillamook County that rely on the support of volunteers to make them possible.
