Agricultural and Environmental Education Grants
Applications for the 2024-2025 agricultural and conservation education grants are currently open!
2024-2025 Agricultural and Conservation Education grant
The Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District will award up to $3,000 in grant funds through an Agricultural & Environmental Education Grant for K-12 students located within the District’s counties. The purpose of the grant is to promote conservation education in local schools and provide additional resources for formal or non-formal educators to teach students about agriculture and/or natural resources in a creative way.
“We’re now in our eighth year of offering schools and educators across the District education grants. That is 18 awardees and over $15,000 directly into educational projects and programs in our schools. That kind of impact is critical to developing the next generation of conservation and agricultural leaders.””
The Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District has been awarded education grants since 2016. Altogether, FRSWCD has awarded $15,000 in grant funds since then. We fund 2-3 grants/year at $1000 each.
Eligible applicants are located within the following counties: Baker, Calhoun, Decatur, Dougherty, Early, Grady, Miller, Mitchell, and Seminole Counties. Please direct any questions to info@flintriverswcd.org. The application deadline is April 1, 2024, and awardees will be announced by June 2024.
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Aquaponics - 2022 Grant Project
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.
Water then circles back to the pond, and in return, the plants nourish the fish. This project is an addition to several raised garden beds that grow various vegetables for the cafeteria, for a true garden-to-table experience that all students participate in, teaching them diverse and sustainable ways to grow food. This project has been highlighted twice in local media: WALB-Farming Without Soil and Albany Herald-School Nutrition Pilot Project.
Camping Physics - 2019 grant project
In 2019, Baconton Community Charter School received an Agriculture and Environmental Education Grant titled “Camping Physics.” During this project, students had fun camping while increasing their environmental literacy. 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.