DDWS awards $10,000 in school conservation education grants
“Ding” Darling Wildlife Society-Friends of the Refuge recently awarded $10,000 in grants to conservation education-related projects at 13 different schools in Lee and Collier counties.
Teachers submitted grant applications to the DDWS Environmental Education Committee by Oct. 31, 2015. The committee chose awards based on need and relevance to conservation.
Schools to which DDWS awarded grants this year include Bishop Verot High School in Fort Myers for its “Aquaponics Garden” project, Diplomat Middle School in Cape Coral for “Florida Ecosystems & Landforms,” Golden Gate High in Naples for “Creative Conservation Art,” Lee Virtual School in Fort Myers for “Hands on Conservation,” Lehigh Elementary for “A Slick Solution: Cleaning an Oil Spill,” Lehigh Middle for “Life in a Dystopian Society,” Patriot Elementary in Cape Coral for “Bird Sleuths,” Pelican Elementary in Cape Coral for “Butterfly, Ladybug Environments,” Pine Island Elementary for “Nature in the Classroom,” Robinson Littleton Elementary in Fort Myers for “From Manatees to Marine Debris,” Royal Palm Exceptional in Fort Myers for “S.M.A.R.T. Characters,” The Sanibel School for “Plant Growth & Predator Prey,” and Villas Elementary in Fort Myers for “Native Wildlife Habitat.”
“This is the 10th year the society has awarded these conservation teacher grants. The past two years we opened eligibility to a five-county area,” says Wendy Kindig, education committee chair. “To date, we have awarded nearly $58,000 in teacher grants. We were so impressed by the great projects our teachers and their students imagined this year. The society is pleased to help the future of conservation stewards in this important way.”
Grant recipients report back on their projects to the society and refuge, sending pictures and often thank-you notes from the students, upon completion in May 2015.
In 2016, DDWS will again be awarding up to $10,000 in teacher conservation grants for schools in Charlotte, Collier, Desoto, Hendry, and Lee counties. The grants are funded by monies received from the DDWS Conservation Education Endowment Fund earmarked specifically for education. For information on next year’s grants, contact Ranger Becky Larkins at 239-472-1100 ext. 237 or Kindig at wendykindig@aol.com, or visit www.dingdarlingsociety.org/grants.
As a non-profit 501(c)3 organization, DDWS works to support J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge’s mission of conservation, wildlife and habitat protection, research, and public education through charitable donations and Refuge Nature Shop proceeds.
To join DDWS and support the refuge with a tax-deductible gift, visit www.dingdarlingsociety.org or contact Birgie Miller at 239-292-0566 or director@dingdarlingsociety.org.