Twelve Highlands County teachers are among the record number of educators who applied for and received Splash! mini-grants through the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
This year the District awarded Splash! mini-grants to 209 educators totaling more than $413,000. That’s 72 more grant recipients than last year.
Mary Margaret Hull, lead communications coordinator, attributes the increase in awardees to an increase in promotion among the District’s school board contacts and classroom teachers, as well as decreases in school budgets.
“These teachers are receiving a small amount of money but are able to accomplish so much,” said Hull. “Mini-grant recipients also utilize the District’s great collection of curriculum materials as well as learn about other opportunities, including teacher training and District-funded field trips in their region.”
The Highlands County awardees include:
- Lydia Tubbs,Lake Placid Middle School, will receive $2,770. Students will visit the Fazzini Wilderness Center to compare and contrast uplands and wetlands surrounding the Peace River. They will also conduct water quality testing and habitat investigations.
- Mildred Molina,Avon Elementary, will receive $1,328.66. Students will expand and maintain an existing on-campus butterfly garden and read water-related books.
- Christina Starling,Avon Elementary, will receive $1,385. Students will take a field trip to Highlands Hammock State Park and read water-related books.
- Rosemarie Wall,Avon Park High School, will receive $1,141.85. Students will collect and test local water samples, documenting their results in data tables, posters and journals.
- Cheryl Moffat,Avon Park High School, will receive $2,284. Students will perform water quality tests on local water bodies. They will record and document their results.
- Cheryl Vermilye,Cracker Trail Elementary, will receive $731.10. Students will perform water quality tests and water-related classroom experiments. They will also read books about water conservation and perform activities from the District’s K-3 Watershed Resources Box and Water Conservation Kit.
- Susan Harris,Hill-Gustat Middle School, will receive $4,040. Students will take field trips to Archbold Biological Station and the MacArthur Agro-Ecology Research Center to compare and contrast the two distinct ecosystems. They will create PowerPoint presentations to document the experience.
- Dena Dusek,Memorial Elementary School, will receive $2,183. Students will read water-related books, perform water-related classroom experiments and perform tests on local water bodies.
- Angela Mann,Sebring High School, will receive $2,970. Students will collect local freshwater samples from around Highlands County and use microscopes to document and identify the different microorganisms found in the samples, as well as perform water quality tests.
- Donna Tomlinson,Sebring Middle School, will receive $1,928. Students will perform water quality tests and create a hydroponics garden.
- Millie Anderson,Sun ‘n Lake Elementary, will receive $700.47. Students will read water-related books, perform classroom experiments and engage in activities from the District’s K-3 Watershed Resources Box.
- Elena Wirick-Velez,The Kindergarten Learning Center, will receive $2,033.73. Students will read water-related books, perform classroom experiments and maintain an in-class terrarium system to study natural systems and life cycles.
Last year 10 mini-grants were awarded in Highlands County.
The goal of the mini-grant program is to promote hands-on water resources education that teaches students about their local watersheds and the water resources within them. Splash! mini-grants provide up to $5,000 per school on a reimbursement basis only and are available to public, private and home school teachers.
Past mini-grant projects include water quality monitoring of local lakes and rivers, the development of water-conserving gardens on school properties, and outreach campaigns designed to promote awareness of water-conserving practices.
In addition to mini-grant funding, the District offers educators free teacher training workshops, speakers for classroom presentations and free educational materials. The publications are correlated to Florida’s Sunshine State Standards and can also be ordered on the District’s web site at www.WaterMatters.org/publications/ .