Columbia, SC—Six youth environmental projects will receive funding through the Richland Soil and Water Conservation District’s Conservation Education Mini-Grant Program and the City of Columbia’s Clean Stream Columbia Program, which provide grants of up to $250 to support classroom conservation initiatives.  Spring 2016 award recipients are:

• Catawba Trail Elementary School (Pollinator Garden, Vikki Pasco)
• Dent Middle School (Water Quality Monitoring, Dr. Rachel Tustin)
• Longleaf Middle School (Rainwater Harvesting, Kristin Ziegler)
• St. John Neumann Catholic School (School Gardens, David Kenga)
• Westwood High School (Pollinator Habitat and Education, Melissa Bunch)
• Youth Enrichment Academy* (Community Gardening for Cleaner Water, Maxine Sumpter)
  *Denotes Clean Stream Columbia Award Recipient

Awarded projects include a student-led water quality monitoring initiative in the Gills Creek Watershed by seventh and eighth graders at Dent Middle School.  “Given the impact of flooding in our area, and the damage to the Cary’s Lake Dam, this project is…important to students and the community at large,” says Dr. Rachel Tustin, seventh grade teacher and award recipient at Dent.  “Students will have the opportunity to not only participate in real-life data collection, they will have an opportunity to add to that data and measure the impact of past solutions.” 

Faculty and staff members of all Richland County schools are eligible to apply for Conservation Education Mini-Grants, while any school within Columbia’s city limits is also eligible for Clean Stream Columbia Awards.  The next application deadline will be in October, 2016.  Details and the application are available online at www.rcgov.us/rswcd.

 

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Conservation Districts are political subdivisions of state government under the local direction of five-member Boards of Commissioners.  The Richland Soil and Water Conservation District promotes the wise use of natural resources for the benefit of the citizens of Richland County.

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