On January 10, the SFPUC welcomed 45 students from John O’Connell High School’s Public Service Pathway to kick-off an integrated curricular unit (learning component) on SFPUC Water Resources and Affordability.

In addition to connecting with SFPUC staff from across the agency, the students learned about how the SFPUC balances the needs for infrastructure investment and affordability, and toured the Living Machine at 525 Golden Gate Avenue.

The six-week component is one of many at John O’Connell High School that aims to deepen student awareness of the SFPUC’s operations and careers through CS-1081, the Memorandum of Agreement between SFPUC and the School District for the John O’Connell Career Awareness Pilot.

Reflections from several students during the tour:

“I think that it was cool to come to the SFPUC because we got to learn more about how the water travels from Hetch Hetchy to SF. I also really enjoyed learning more about what the engineers do here at the SFPUC.”

Abraham M., 12th grade student at John O’Connell High School

“The living machine isn’t something high school students see everyday, so I was very excited to see how it works and how it is environmentally sustainable for our City.”

Geri U., 12th Grade student at John O’Connell High School

“I thought it was pretty cool to come and to see the innovative water recycling system that the SFPUC has and also to learn about the different kinds of job opportunities provided.”

Olivia C. 12th grade student at John O’Connell High School

“I was pretty excited to come to the SFPUC HQ today because I really value knowledge and want to learn more about what goes on in the utilities industry.”

Isaac B., 11th grade student at John O’Connell High School

Later this winter, the students will visit the SFPUC’s City Distribution Division and return to 525 Golden Gate Avenue to present their findings on how the SFPUC can continue to support customer affordability as it makes critical investments.