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Charlotte County Schools Receive $5,000 Environmental Education Grant From EPA

Release Date: 7/28/1999
Contact Information: Roy Seneca (215) 814-5567

CHARLOTTE COURT HOUSE, Va. -- Charlotte County Public Schools have been awarded a $5,000 environmental education grant to help teach high school and preschool students about good farming practices, water monitoring, weather conditions and other environmental issues.

Under the Land Lab Demonstration and Mentoring Program, the 160 agriculture students at the Randolph-Henry High School will participate daily in collecting and monitoring agricultural data at the school’s 60-acre land laboratory.

The most interesting part of the program calls for the high school students to become mentors for 60 preschoolers by working with them to plant fall and spring crops and watching the crops grow in a natural environment. The students will also adopt a calf and learn how to feed and care for it, and study the growth of a catfish.

The program will create a learning environment that incorporates curriculum objectives with an awareness of the environment. Abut 200 area farmers in Charlotte and surrounding counties will also participate in the program or have access to the study.

“The teachers and students in the Charlotte County Public Schools have an outstanding program that will help increase the students’ appreciation of the environment, and help people understand why it’s important to protect public health by preserving a safe environment,” said W. Michael McCabe, regional administrator for EPA’s mid-Atlantic region.

EPA’s education grant program is designed to stimulate grass-roots environmental education. In the mid-Atlantic Region, the 25 grant recipients included schools, civic groups and non-profit organizations. Nationally, $3 million was awarded in 1999.

For more information on this grant, contact Nan Ides at (215) 814-5546. EPA’s regional Internet home page also has general information on the grants: http://www.epa.gov/region03.