In 2022, International Studies Charter Elementary School in Albany received a Flint River SWCD Agriculture and Environmental Education Grant for their Aquaponics Smart Gardening Project. Combined funds from this grant and other sources allowed the school to implement an aquaponics garden to grow produce for the cafeteria. With hydroponic planters and a koi pond installed, students can see the supporting relationship between plants and fish as the water cycles from the pond through the planters, giving plants water and nutrients from the fish waste.

In 2019, Baconton Community Charter School received an Agriculture and Environmental Education Grant titled “Camping Physics.” During this project, 29 high school seniors had fun camping in the Okefenokee Swamp and explored physics related concept in the natural environment.

They investigated the motion of water through the pond, energy transformations in oxygen, and combustion through campfires. Students also explored the relationship between human contributions to carbon dioxide and climate change. Boating was used to explain force and motion, and other activities were carried out during this project, proving that physics applies to the natural environment as much as it does in a classroom setting.

in 2016, Flint River SWCD awarded our grant to Live Oak Elementary to fund multiple classroom resources for their 1st grade students. “Berry Fun” saw 1st graders take a field trip to Calhoun Produce in Ashburn, where students learned about Resource Management through first hand encounters with live plants and animals.

“This was an excellent opportunity for our first graders to gain a hands-on experience with plants, animals, goods/services and consumers/producers.” — Patricia Littleton, 1st Grade Teacher

Educator Bev Cosby taught her class about animal life by incorporating art into her curriculum, working with each student to paint and design gourds as birdhouses – one for the school and one to take home. “It is important to teach students about nature, and one of the best ways to learn is to experience it firsthand.”

In 2016, Southside Elementary School received our Education Grant for their 2nd grade science curriculum. For the project, instructor Tammy Nowell guided her class on an intimate look at the natural life cycles of multiple organisms, including plant and animal life. The grant reward provided the classroom with advanced materials, including egg incubators and gardening supplies. Students witnessed the life cycle of plants and animals – watching eggs hatch into chicks and seeds grow into seedlings during school!