Pediatrician Casey Gray said, "The stations will not only help save with buying bottled water, but will make sure children have adequate access to water throughout their school day."
As part of a $90,000 grant Kaiser Permanente Fresno gave to the district, 13 stations were installed over summer. Kaiser also donated enough reusable water bottles for the entire staff and student body.
"I like that it has this, it's very accessible and easy for me to clip on my backpack and not forget it," said 8th grader Angel Blanco.
"I actually like it better-- the water is clean, fresh, and cold," said Marino Monjaras, 8th grader.
It is recommended that students drink five to eight glasses per day, but that is not necessarily an easy task with the traditional water fountain. Now that students are going to take their water with them, they will be able to get their fill.
The idea is to keep their focus on the classroom and not hydration.
"With this new machine we can save a lot of plastic bottles instead of throwing them away or putting them in the ocean," said Monjaras.
By the time we finished talking with Monjaras the number of bottles saved had already surpassed 6,500. Thanks to a monitor on the refill station students can keep track of how many bottles they are keeping out of landfills.