Every year, Watertown Middle School gets $15,000 for furniture, like desks and chairs. Last year, Mr. Del Porto used that $15,000 to buy water bubblers.

    The new bubblers were supposed to be installed soon, although they have been sitting in the school basement for almost a year!

    In the old bubblers, the water wasn’t as clean. The new ones are electronic and are really cool. Whenever someone refills a water bottle it will show how many water bottles they saved. This machine is smart and high tech, just what kids today need.

    “If you don’t drink water, you can get headaches from dehydration. You get tired and don’t do your best work which also goes along with eating well,” said Joanne Shea, the school nurse.

    Drinking water prevents headaches, so more water means more paying attention in class.

    Drinking lots of water is very important for good health, but WMS students sometimes have to travel all the way across the school to get water, which wastes class time. Teachers in eighth grade with classrooms farther away from the better fountains are frustrated.

    “My priority as a teacher is having kids in the room during class, but I understand that the water fountain in my cluster is not as desirable as ones found elsewhere in the building,’’ said Sam Morris, a teacher in Cluster 5.

    Most students agree that the best water fountain is located next to the girls’ locker room in the lower gym. Even math teacher Phil Oates thinks so. He is famous for sending kids down to the fountain to refill his water bottle after they have finished their work.

    “I used to have someone go downstairs to the girls’ locker room to get cold water, but now I can go to the one outside my room,’’ Mr. Oates said. “I’m being green by reusing my water bottle over again.”

–Jan. 25, 2015–