Mathews schools get $25,000 grant
Staff report
VIENNA
Mathews Local School District received a $25,000 grant from America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education, sponsored by the Monsanto Fund.
The district will use the money to construct a land lab and learning center on the recently purchased Prestwick Golf Course. The wooded areas, meadows and water sources combined with the new learning center will provide a hands-on learning environment for the district’s math and science classes.
The district plans to renovate the house on the property for use as a computer and science lab where students can observe and analyze ground and water samples on site.
“Whereas classes currently have to travel to collect samples and return to the school to study them, the new lab will allow them to analyze samples on site, cutting commute time and yielding more-accurate results,” said Superintendent Lew Lowery. “This project gives students more time to learn in the field and lab, and it would have never gotten off the ground without the grant.”
The district also received an educational starter kit from Monsanto Co. to help establish a pollinator garden, which will give students first-hand knowledge of the critical role habitat plays in providing bees and butterflies with food, shelter and places to lay eggs.
Since 2011, Grow Rural Education has awarded more than $9 million to help keep rural public school districts growing. The program works with farmers to nominate public-school districts to compete for math and science grants of $10,000 or $25,000.
Grant applications are reviewed and finalists selected by a panel of teachers. Winning applications are chosen by an advisory council made up of farmers from across the U.S.
Visit www.GrowRuralEducation.com to see the full list of winners for this year. A sister program, America’s Farmers Grow Communities, is enrolling farmers for 2016. To sign up, visit www.GrowCommunities.com before Nov. 30.
These programs are part of the America’s Farmers initiative. The America’s Farmers campaign and programs have advocated on behalf of farmers and their efforts to meet society’s needs through agriculture.
Learn more at www.cfiengage.org.