Gorzycki Middle School receives Bright Green Future grant
AUSTIN - The city of Austin's Sustainability Office is working along with several school districts in the area to provide grants to create student-centered projects advancing climate action.
The projects provide hands-on learning opportunities, create community benefits, and contribute to a cleaner, safer climate for the city of Austin.
Connecting to Nature
Local perspective:
If you've stepped inside Ms. Dondeville's classroom before, you may have noticed some noisy chatter coming from the animals Gorzycki Middle School was able to purchase thanks to the Bright Green Future grant.
"One of them is the organic gardening. We also have chickens. We have the goats. So students are allowed to actually grow their own fruits and vegetables," says Joelle Dondeville, CTE principles of agriculture at Gorzycki Middle School.
Joelle Dondeville says thanks to this partnership, students are able to connect with nature and learn how they get their food.
Bright Green Future Grant
By the numbers:
"Nowadays, students are bombarded with the monumental task to save the planet. The Bright Green Future grants allow students the opportunity to develop leadership skills so that they will know how to address sustainability issues," says Dondeville.
The office of sustainability received 135 applications from 60 schools. Projects were selected from every Austin city council district, representing schools in Austin ISD, Leander ISD, Del Valle ISD, and several private schools.
What they're saying:
"We started the program in 2012 just as a way to give area schools some funding that they need for sustainability projects. As a former teacher, I know that there's no there's no group out there that does more with less than the teachers. And so, the program allows them up to $3,000 for sustainability projects," says Mary Priddy, program manager for the city of Austin's Bright Green Futures grant.
In previous years, Gorzycki was able to get chickens, goats, and organic gardens.
Dondeville says with this year's grant they're going to get sheep to add from last year's grant.
"We teach them all about the chickens and the eggs, and we get the herbs from our garden. And then, the next day, the culinary class cooks for us. So it is a true farm to table learning experience." says Dondeville.
Dig deeper:
The grant application is closed at this time but educators who are interested in getting a project funded, you can click here for more details.
The Source: Information in this article is from FOX 7 Austin's Jessica Rivera.