An exciting leap forward for education was taken on November 11, when two recipients for the Agricultural and Environmental Education Grant were selected by Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisors at the monthly District meeting. Patti Howell from Baconton Community Charter School in Baconton and Shameka Edwards-Crittenden of Northside Elementary in Albany were each awarded $1,000 in funding for specialized and hands-on programming at their schools focused on agricultural and environmental topics.
The Agricultural and Environmental Education Grant is funded through the Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District (the District) and is available to educators of schools in the nine-county District, including Baker, Calhoun, Decatur, Dougherty, Early, Grady, Miller, Mitchell, and Seminole. This year, the District received nine applications for the Agricultural and Environmental Education Grant.
““The Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District is dedicated to furthering conservation education efforts throughout southwest Georgia by sponsoring events, contests, and student organizations that promote agricultural and environmental education,” says District Chairman Marty McLendon. “The District’s annual sponsorship of the Agricultural and Environmental Education Grant is one way we support educating the next generation of agricultural and conservation leaders.””
Howell at Baconton Community Charter School was awarded $1,000 for her proposal “Camping Physics.” This program plans to demonstrate physics principles throughout environmental systems of the Okefenokee Swamp in Waycross, Georgia. The group of 29 Baconton Community Charter School seniors will be “… obtaining, evaluating, and communicating physics related concepts in natural environments” says Howell. This overnight trip will consist of guided boat tours and exploration where students can visualize and quantify energy transformations, motion and force, and waves; all in one of Georgia’s own state parks. Howell elaborates that, “Physics can be studied in the motion of water; the forces involved in moving water and nutrients up a tree; and the energy transformations that occur in ecosystems. I want to share my view of nature from a physics perspective. Most importantly, I hope my students will develop a love of the beauty found only in our natural world.”
Edwards-Crittenden at Northside Elementary was awarded $1,000 for her proposal to install a hydroponic garden at the school. While ordinarily teachers can’t get their students to eat their vegetables, much less want to learn about them, students in Edwards-Crittenden and her co-teacher, Alice Carter’s, 4th grade class became interested in the topic of growing vegetables after they read about hydroponic gardening, a method of growing plants without soil. Edwards-Crittenden explains that “because my students were quite intrigued with the thought of a hydroponic garden, we would like to build our own at school.” This garden will make school history as the first STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) program implemented at Northside Elementary. The hydroponics lab will reach a wide range of subjects for the entire 4th grade.
The District is proud to sponsor this grant due to the long-standing impact this funding can have on students in South West Georgia. The Agricultural and Environmental Education Grant was designed to promote the District’s dedication to agriculture and natural resources by allowing educators to develop new, engaging programs deeply rooted in environmental studies. The programs selected combine the District’s goal of environmental literacy with the creativity of driven teachers who passionately strive to provide students with applicable knowledge.
To learn more about the Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District’s education programming, visit flintriverswcd.org/education or reach out to the District’s Education Coordinator Abby at abby@flintriverswcd.org.
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