Amy Cicala's 4th grade and George Goneconto's 2nd grade classes had been buddy classes for a number of years. In 2008, they decided to introduce a central theme to unify their buddy class program. Water awareness and conservation became their theme. The Buddy Water project is in its 9thyear and this is Mrs. Katz's 4th year since Mrs. Cicala's retirement in 2013.

A water curriculum was specifically designed as a series of lessons to introduce students to personal, community and global water usage, and water conservation.† The school year culminates in a service learning project, to support the UNICEF Tap Project and another Charity group with a focus on Water, last year's funds went to aid for Flint, Michigan. The last eight buddy classes raised over $11,000. Our intent is to raise the students' awareness of where water comes from, how it gets to them, the value of conservation, and empowering our students to help those in need of clean drinking water.

Sincerely,

Laura Katz (4K) and George Goneconto (2G)