Cody the Crocodile
Contemplates his
Water Wise Propensity

Written By Rebecca Janecek

I would like to dedicate this
story to my amazing mom
Jennifer Janecek, Cameron Linn,
Gabby Romero, and Ms. Irving.

Thank you all for your support!
Rebecca Janecek

Cody the Crocodile loved getting wet.
In fact, it was his favorite thing in the world.

Cody would spend hours splishing and
splashing in the water. He would also water
all of the plants in his yard and roll in the
huge mud puddles the water would make.

1

2

Cody didn’t care that he was wasting water.
Cody only cared about the fun he was having.

3

One day, Sarah the Sea Lion passed by Cody’s
house as he was spraying the hose water high
into the air.

4

Sarah could not believe
what she was seeing.
“STOP!,” she cried.
“What are you doing wasting
all of that water?”

5

6

Cody looked at Sarah confused.
“I’m not wasting water. I’m playing in it,”
he said.

“It’s only wasting water if you’re not using it.
Playing with the hose and watering the yard
is not wasting water. Wasting water is when
you use way more water than you need.”

“Are you using all of that water going into the
gutter?” asked Sarah.

7

8

9

“No,” said Cody. “I guess not.”
“Look at those flowers. Do they need
all of that water you are spraying
on them?” asked Sarah.

Cody looked down at the flowers
drooping on the wet ground
and gulped as he replied,
“No.”

10

Cody was beginning to understand what Sarah
was saying about the water, but he still didn’t
understand one thing. “How come it’s called
wasting water when we can just turn on the
faucet and get more?” asked Cody.

11

“It’s wasting water because there is only a
little bit of water on our planet that you can
drink,” Sarah replied.

12

13

Cody thought about what the world
looked like for a minute and then felt
even more confused.

“But doesn’t the Earth have
a lot of water on it?” he asked.

“Yes Cody, the Earth is covered with water;
however, most of that water is in the ocean
and is very salty. We can’t drink salt water
because it will make us sick,”
Sarah responded.

“EWWWWWW,” said Cody.
“I would hate to drink salt water.
That would be gross.”

14

“We need to share all of our good water
with our friends,” Sarah said. “It would
not be very nice of us to use it all up on
ourselves, now would it?” asked Sarah.

Cody shook his head no.

Sarah said, “You see Cody, the best way
for us to share water with our friends is
to not waste it and, instead, use the
water we have wisely.”

15

16

17

“Using water wisely means that we must be
careful and efficient with our water and use
only what we need,” said Sarah.

Cody felt very sad when he thought about all
his friends not having enough water to drink,
all because he had carelessly used too much.

18

“I will do better at using water wisely,”
said Cody. “I promise that I will never
waste water again.”

19

Now whenever Cody the Crocodile wants to
play in the water, he goes to the pond by his
house and splashes around all day long.

20

21

Cody even changed how he waters
his plants and flowers. Instead of using
the hose, Cody uses a drip system and
relies on the cycle and soak method
for his landscape, which gives his plants
and flowers just the right amount of
water they need.

22

23

Cody and Sarah play together almost every
day, and they both love to find new ways to
use water wisely. They always turn off the
faucet when they are brushing their teeth,
and they fill up the sink with water when
they help their moms do the dishes instead
of just letting the water run down the drain.

24

Together, Sarah and Cody love to use water
wisely, and they always tell their friends and
neighbors, “Remember, water is for drinking,
not for wasting.
Use it wisely!”

25

Cody the Crocodile – Author

Rebecca Janecek

Hello, my name is Rebecca Janecek and I attend Palm Middle School. I enjoy reading, writing, and hanging out with my friends. My two best friends are my mom and my friend, Cameron. I want to live in downtown Riverside when I get older. I am a very outgoing person. I am very happy to have written a book for everyone to read.

Author’s Teacher

Shamish Irving

I began my teaching career in 1999 where for the first two years I worked at the high school level. In 2001, I began my career with teaching Language Arts to middle school students here, at Palm Middle School. I have my B.A. in English and my Master’s in Educational Counseling. I have loved working with kids all my life—so much so, that I used to mimic teaching with the neighborhood kids after school! It was this year that I was assigned an Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) class—an academic strategies class that teaches students how to be successful in their core curriculum classes as well as prepare them for the college track. It was here that my AVID coordinator passed on the Eastern Municipal Water District/Rancho California Water District (EMWD/RCWD) writing contest information and suggested we enter. This was perfect because one of the strategies we implement is teaching writing with rigor and this was a perfect opportunity to have the students develop it.

Cody the Crocodile – Illustrators

Bryanna Jones Tillotson

Hello, my name is Bryanna Jones Tillotson and I have attended three local schools since kindergarten - Little Lake, Dartmouth, and Western Center Academy. I enjoy drawing and design and creative writing. I live with my parents, brother, and a cute little terrier puppy. I love saving water, and because our plants are drip-watered or on a timer spray, each one gets just the right amount of water it needs, and provides me with more time for fun.

Bethany Prizant-Toscano

Hello, my name is Bethany Prizant-Toscano and I attend Dartmouth Middle School. I enjoy drawing, volleyball, and reading in my spare time, which is not often. I plan to attend Hemet High School and then University of California San Diego or University of California Riverside where I hope to major in Human Sciences.

Illustrators’ Teacher

Paola Canaday

As the daughter of a Japanese American army officer and a native Italian mother, I grew up living all around the world. This wide variety of experiences fostered in me a life-long love for learning. In 1986 I started teaching on Palomar Mountain at the 6th grade Outdoor Education Program. The forest was our textbook and our primary mandate was to teach the children to get along better – so every day on the trail was an adventure of blending teamwork challenges with learning about the natural world. Despite the fun, after twelve years I yearned for the opportunity to have deeper relationships with my students, so I transferred to a regular classroom. After eight years of teaching 2nd and 3rd grade, and four years of K-6 computer lab, I transferred to the Western Center Academy, a new charter school with a focus on science and technology. At last – a classroom where I could bring in some of the wonder of the hands-on experiential learning, in which I believe so strongly. Helping students create stories that had a chance to be published is just one of the many ways to make their work more meaningful than just another worksheet, so thank you EMWD and RCWD for this great opportunity!

26

Acknowledgements

Eastern Municipal Water District Education Specialist Malea Ortloff developed the award winning Write Off program in an effort to foster water use efficiency in both middle and elementary school students. She uses a cross-age approach, which allows older students to write stories geared toward younger (elementary) students about the importance of water in our lives. Once the winning story is selected and published, Malea designs curriculum that is grade-level appropriate and also keeps the water use efficiency message in the classroom for a longer period of time. This year more than 350 entries were received, making it a difficult choice to select a winner. The winning story is entertaining, engaging, and informative.

Eastern Municipal Water District wishes to thank the following students, teacher, graphic designer, and advisory committee for their collaboration and contributions in the development of this book.

Author

Rebecca Janecek

Mentor Advisors

Shamish Irving

Palm Middle School

MORENO VALLEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Advisory Committee

Malea Ortloff

Education Specialist

EASTERN MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT

Meggan Valencia

Public Information Officer

RANCHO CALIFORNIA WATER DISTRICT

Ailene Earl

Education Assistant

EASTERN MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT

Book Design

Lisa Huppert

STUDIO L

Illustrators

Bryanna Jones Tillotson and Bethany Prizant-Toscano

Paola Canaday

Western Center Academy

HEMET UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Charlotte Golden

Principal Water Education Specialist

THE METROPOLITAN WATER DISTRICT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Teresa Barnett

First Grade Teacher at Megan Cope Elementary School

SAN JACINTO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Copyright pending. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or quoted in whole or in part by any other printed or electronic means, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or for presentation on radio, television, videotape or film without written permission from Eastern Municipal Water District.

This book is intended for educational, artistic, and water conservation purposes. Permission is never granted for commercial purposes. Manufactured in U.S.A. The printing of this book was sponsored in part by Rancho California Water District and with Community Partnering Program funds through The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

27