SAWS Conference teaches high school students about water quality issues

Students play games, get hands-on experience

SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Water System's fourth-annual Confluence Summit brought about 850 high school students to the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center on Tuesday.

The event is deigned to get the attention of teens and includes games and hands-on learning experiences to teach about the importance of water quality issues.

"You have to have fun when you do something like this and it makes it exciting," said Mike Kliewer, a Wagner High School physics teacher.

Some exhibits gave students the chance to perform science experiments and learn from employees who work for SAWS.

Brenda Miller, a teacher from East Central High School, has attended the conference every year for the past four years. She said she appreciates that her students are exposed to new careers.

"For many of them, it's a kickoff. They visit with an engineer, they visit with a lab analyst and they decide, 'I know what I want to do with my life,'" she said.

The event is sponsored by SAWS and more than dozen corporate sponsors.

SAWS officials consider it an investment in the future.

For Central Catholic High School freshman Daniel Guerra, it's a future that looks promising.

"Maybe one day I'll end up in a lab and hopefully I'll be able to do something," he said. "I honestly want to make a difference when I grow up."