The mission of the zazen Water Ambassador School Program is “To create a generation of wellness children through educating them in the classroom on the benefits of hydration and by implementing enhanced learning environments with water technologies that improve their physical and mental wellbeing”. The Program addresses the fundamental need for children to be properly hydrated with the right quality water throughout the day.
If children (and adults) are not replacing the water they lose on a daily basis through breathing, perspiring and eliminating, which is 1 litre of water for every 25 kgs of body weight, then they are dehydrated. The cumulative effect of daily dehydration, is long term disease and illness.
We found that most children simply don’t choose to drink water because they don’t like the taste of it. zazen Alkaline Water fixes that – kids love the taste!
Many parents ask us if the foods and other drinks children have each day will also hydrate them. The answer is Yes, they can receive up to 20% of their daily water need from these sources, depending of course on what it is they are eating.
Benefits to schools
To achieve our mission of having the very best quality water available to every child at school, at NO COST to the school, the zazen Water Ambassador School Program offers the following benefits to schools in our Program:
- a zazen Alkaline Water system is placed FREE into each primary school classroom.
- School resources for our Water Ambassador lessons provided free to the school via our zazen Water Ambassador School Program web site at www.waterambassador.com. The lessons are targeted at Junior and Middle School classrooms which have the free zazen Alkaline Water systems so that the children internalise the importance of the quantity and quality of the water they drink every day.
- Ongoing replacement filters and stones are all provided to the school FREE – there is no ongoing cost to maintain the zazen Alkaline Water systems which are gifted to the school.
School Nomination Process
If you wish to understand how the zazen Water Ambassador School Program nomination process works, please read each of the following questions and answers. It is also important to read about the Program by downloading our Water Ambassador School Program brochure.
Can anyone nominate any local school?
No, you may nominate a primary or Special Needs school if you are one of the following:
- A current zazen Water customer with children attending the primary school you are nominating
- A zazen Natural Health Practitioner partner willing to support your local school
- The primary school Principal or a School Administrator
- Your primary school participates in the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program.
- You work with Special Needs children in a care / educational facility and understand the benefits of the zazen Alkaline Water system
Do you market products to school parents?
No – there is no marketing or promotion of zazen Water products to the school or through the school to parents allowed by zazen Water, either directly or through any Natural Health Practitioner or Reseller associated with the school.
Do you only gift to Primary Schools and Special Needs?
Yes.
- A primary school classroom is able to take personal responsibility for their zazen Water System and care for it as the teacher and students use the same classroom every day.
- It is also the ideal age to teach children on the importance of water and hydration and the lessons provided by zazen tie into helping:
- Create healthy water drinking habits – children learn to reach for water as their first choice
- The zazen Water system is a wonderful teaching aid – emulating Mother Nature’s water cycle and therefore complements the water cycle and sustainability lessons taught at primary school level.
How many systems can a school receive?
If a school is chosen for the Water Ambassador School Program by zazen Water – from 1 to 10 classrooms will receive a zazen Alkaline Water System unless otherwise agreed with the school. If the school has more than 10 classrooms, additional zazen Water Systems for the remaining classrooms will be reviewed annually at the request of either the School or the zazen Water Angel supporting the school directly. All System replacement parts are also supplied at no cost every 6 months to the school. We do not place zazen Systems into common areas or staff rooms, only classrooms.
What are my responsibilities as a Nominee?
zazen Water as a Social Business Enterprise do not have staff to manage each school or teach lessons. We rely on our local volunteers, parents, staff of the school etc. to assist us to do this so that the Program can be rolled out on a National basis.
As a nominee we ask that you are able to assist manage the gift systems in classrooms by helping to clean and install replacement filters and sometimes teach a lesson on the “Secret of Water”.
- zazen Water sends the initial zazen Alkaline Water Systems, and then replacement filters & stones free every 6 months to all schools.
- Your help is needed to setup the initial systems, and every 6 months to give the systems a clean and replace the filters and stones. This is critical to the ongoing success of the zazen Water Ambassador School Program.
What determines the Success of the Program?
The zazen Water Ambassador School Program’s ongoing success is conditional on the following:
- Support by local parents who use and understand the zazen Alkaline Water system and its benefits – and can therefore assist with the management and cleaning of the systems (or a local Natural Health Practitioner with local knowledge).
- Commitment from the school Principal, Teachers and parents
- Commitment from the school to teach our basic “The Secret of Water” lesson and care for the systems in the classroom.
What is the waiting list time?
If the school qualifies and is enthusiastic and we have great local support then you can expect systems within 6 months depending on the time of year as we only gift twice per year, in 1st and 3rd terms. However this will be discussed once the nomination has been assessed.
When do schools receive the free gift systems?
zazen Water gift school systems twice a year (February at the beginning of Term 1 and July/August at the beginning of Term 3). Any school nominated is added to our nomination waiting list and the evaluation process is managed by Janet Parker our CEO and Co-founder.
If you complete the Water Ambassador School Program Application form, Janet will contact you directly to discuss.
Online Nomination Form
Thank you for your support and desire to nominate a school for our Water Ambassador School Program.
We have received a lot of applications this year from our wonderful, enthusiastic customers and Partners which we are currently working through, thank you! We are now closed to new nominations and the online nomination form will be available again in early 2019.
Janet Parker, CEO, zazen Water
