GW wins NC Beautiful grant to grow fruit garden, expand its “Living Classroom”
George Watts has been selected by NC Beautiful to receive an environmental education grant! The award is part of NC Beautiful’s Windows of Opportunity Grant Program, which rewards North Carolina teachers for their creativity and their dedication to perpetuating the natural beauty of the state through creative education projects.
Asian persimmons
Strawberry plant
The $1,000 grant will go toward expanding our edible garden with the planting of Asian persimmon trees, strawberries, berry bushes and a pergola for climbing kiwi vines. Just imagine how much fun students will have picking all that fruit!
Kiwi vine
The executive director of NC Beautiful, along with garden club members, will present the grant to George Watts teachers and students on January 29, 2010, at 1:30 p.m., in the school’s garden.
We hope to get started with the planting and constructing the pergola in March, so stay tuned for a work-day announcement.
About the grant: The annual Windows of Opportunity program, developed and administered by NC Beautiful has awarded tens of thousands of dollars to schools all across North Carolina, from the mountains to the coast.
“By rewarding these teachers for their innovation and hard work, we can ensure that our children and grandchildren are participating in a project that sparks a lifelong interest in nature,” says Steve Vacendak, executive director of NC Beautiful.
“They will appreciate this beautiful state even more for having had a teacher who went above and beyond to give them a hands-on, real-world experience. We are proud to be a small part of that discovery.”
January 28th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
This is exciting news! NC Beautiful also awarded our azalea grant last year. It’s a generous program. Thank you to those who put the effort into planning and submitting the application for the fruit tree grant. Can’t wait to see the “fruits” of your labor!
-Sabrina Lamar
January 28th, 2010 at 8:40 pm
Thank you to all that worked to secure this grant. I am so happy to have the garden growing and increasing. I love that the school community is able to come together to create such wonderful experiences for the students.