In an effort to provide clean, cold water to students and staff, two FloWater stations were installed at Aragon.
These stations were pushed for by Barbara Beaumont, health teacher and Aragon’s wellness facilitator for the district. “I’ve been to a lot of health and fitness conferences, and they say that hydration is no. one for kids. A lot of kids are dehydrated, [and] it affects learning and affects your brain.”
“The water stations are a lot better than the water fountains,” says junior Lea Tan. “I’ve seen a lot of people using them.”
Working with District Wellness Coordinator Joe Juarez, Beaumont submitted a report on hydration to the district in which she states, “Hydration will improve performance for all.”
Citing personal experience from attending California Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (CAHPERD) state conferences and scholarly articles, Beaumont worked to get district fundraising for FloWater systems at Aragon.
According to Juarez, the FloWater systems were chosen over other companies for a variety of reasons. “Their seven times purified water filtration system delivers a cleaner drinking water than bottled water or the competition,” Juarez says. “[And] by having a bright, eye-catching design, the refill stations help promote water consumption which is the ultimate goal. They [also] want to make the environment healthier by eliminating plastic bottle use. ”
FloWater is also a local company, with headquarters in the Bay Area. “They were extremely flexible and were willing to meet our needs,” says Juarez.
The district helped install two water stations at each school site in the district. At Aragon, one is in the B hall and the other is by the girls’ locker room. “It was upwards of $60,000 to distribute and install the FloWater refill stations. FloWater was gracious enough to include free maintenance and filters for the entire first year,” says Juarez.
However, Beaumont says, “If we wanted to get two more we could rally and see what kind of funding we could get. [But] if we want more, Aragon needs to pay for it.”
