Twenty-one Polk County teachers and four private school teachers are among the educators who were awarded Splash! school grants through the
"Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":/.
This year 206 "Splash! grants(Splash! School Grants)":/education/schoolgrants were awarded to educators across "the District's 16-county region":/data/map.
Mary Margaret Hull, lead communications coordinator, attributes the effectiveness of the grant program in Polk County to the strong partnership with Polk County Schools, which helped get the word out to teachers. Milton Huling, senior coordinator of secondary science for Polk County Schools, serves as the District's liaison to teachers.
"These teachers are receiving a small amount of money but are able to accomplish so much," said Hull. "Grant recipients also use the District's collection of curriculum materials and other free educational resources."
The Polk County awardees include:
* Sydney Weiss, *Bartow Middle School*, will receive $3,522. Students will visit the Peace River to test water quality and observe natural systems.
* Jessica Fredricks, *Bethune Academy*, will receive $3,995. Students will create projects encouraging water conservation, participate in water-related classroom experiments and view presentations by the Florida Aquarium.
* Lori Bradner, *Central Florida Aerospace Academy of Kathleen High School*, will receive $4,950. Students will compare Lake Hunter to Crystal Lake, analyzing water and sediment core samples to determine the health and water quality of each system.
* Melanie Tucker, *Daniel Jenkins Academy*, will receive $4,974. Students will perform water quality tests on a local lake. They will also create a Florida native plant garden and take a field trip to Bok Tower Gardens to study Florida plants.
* Heather Manrow, *Discovery Academy of Lake Alfred*, will receive $4,999. Students will study wetlands, perform water quality tests on local water bodies and use an Enviroscape watershed model to learn how wetlands impact water quality.
* Kathi Decker, *Eagle Lake Elementary*, will receive $1,532. Students will take educational field trips to learn about Florida's environment and natural systems. Students will also participate in an Earth Day festival.
* Heather Teague, *Hillcrest Elementary School*, will receive $2,800. Students will study wetlands and take a field trip to Lowry Park Zoo's Wetland Connections program. They will also create conservation projects and take part in an Earth Day festival.
* Laura Mastrangelo, *Jewett School of the Arts*, will receive $1,142. Students will take part in freshwater outreach programs provided by the Florida Aquarium and create projects related to conservation.
* Deborah Emmons, *Lake Region High School*, will receive $1,525. Students will organize community cleanups and teach elementary students about Florida's water resources.
* Dennis Dill, *McKeel Academy*, will receive $2,020. Students will set up rain barrels to water a campus garden. They will also perform classroom experiments related to water quality and create multimedia projects illustrating what they have learned.
* Melissa Kelly, *Polk Avenue Elementary*, will receive $4,208. Students will take educational field trips to learn about freshwater resources and participate in hands-on activities.
* Ray Cruze, *Roosevelt Ac*ademy, will receive $3,816. Students will grow plants using a hydroponics system, comparing the amount of water used to produce crops using hydroponics to crops grown in the school's traditional row gardens.
* Darcy Fak, *Sleepy Hill Middle School*, will receive $2,247. Students will plant and monitor three identical gardens on campus, comparing the ways in which each garden is watered (hose watering, sprinklers and micro-irrigation).
* Carlos Rodriguez, *Snively Elementary*, will receive $1,808. Students will take a field trip to the Florida Aquarium to study watersheds and wetlands. Students will create projects documenting what they have learned.
* Dialne McCall and Debra Kennon, *Summerlin Academy*, will receive $782. Students will identify the presence of dissolved solids in lake, well, tap, distilled and bottled mineral water. They will evaluate the impacts of solute levels on human populations.
* Jenna Barefoot, *Tenoroc High School*, will receive $4,208. Students will grow plants using hydroponics, documenting growth to determine if vertical hydroponic gardening is an effective method of farming.
* Natalie Holland, *Wahneta Elementary School*, will receive $4,994. Students will take educational field trips to learn about freshwater habitats. They will document their project and share their findings with younger students at the school.
In addition to the county's public schools, four private schools were awarded Splash! grants.
* June Stewart, *All Saints' Academy*, will receive $3,170. Students will establish a classroom "mock stream" to practice water testing and perform experiments. They will also record daily weather conditions, take a field trip to Crystal Springs Preserve, add to an existing on-campus garden and create projects documenting their work.
* Jennifer Canady, *Lakeland Christian School*, will receive $1,725. Students will participate in the Organic Earth Outreach Program through Nature's Academy. Students will build a water cycle model, perform classroom experiments, participate in an oil spill simulation and create water filters using carbon, sand, soil and gravel.
* Carol Polkowski, *St. Joseph Catholic School*, will receive $1,943. Students will meet with a naturalist to study the school campus. They will take an educational field trip to learn about the watershed.
* Scott Nelson, *St. Paul Lutheran School*, will receive $3,914. Students will monitor and improve an on-campus retention pond. They will also perform water quality classroom experiments and take a field trip to Nature's Classroom in Hillsborough County.
The goal of the Splash! school grant program is to provide hands-on learning opportunities that teach students about their local watersheds and the freshwater resources within them. Splash! school grants provide up to $5,000 per school on a reimbursement basis only and are available to public, private and homeschool teachers.
"Past Splash! grant projects(2009 Splash! school grants)":/education/schoolgrants/projects.php 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 Splash! 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 "WaterMatters.org/publications/(Free publications)":/publications.
"Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":/.
This year 206 "Splash! grants(Splash! School Grants)":/education/schoolgrants were awarded to educators across "the District's 16-county region":/data/map.
Mary Margaret Hull, lead communications coordinator, attributes the effectiveness of the grant program in Polk County to the strong partnership with Polk County Schools, which helped get the word out to teachers. Milton Huling, senior coordinator of secondary science for Polk County Schools, serves as the District's liaison to teachers.
"These teachers are receiving a small amount of money but are able to accomplish so much," said Hull. "Grant recipients also use the District's collection of curriculum materials and other free educational resources."
The Polk County awardees include:
* Sydney Weiss, *Bartow Middle School*, will receive $3,522. Students will visit the Peace River to test water quality and observe natural systems.
* Jessica Fredricks, *Bethune Academy*, will receive $3,995. Students will create projects encouraging water conservation, participate in water-related classroom experiments and view presentations by the Florida Aquarium.
* Lori Bradner, *Central Florida Aerospace Academy of Kathleen High School*, will receive $4,950. Students will compare Lake Hunter to Crystal Lake, analyzing water and sediment core samples to determine the health and water quality of each system.
* Melanie Tucker, *Daniel Jenkins Academy*, will receive $4,974. Students will perform water quality tests on a local lake. They will also create a Florida native plant garden and take a field trip to Bok Tower Gardens to study Florida plants.
* Heather Manrow, *Discovery Academy of Lake Alfred*, will receive $4,999. Students will study wetlands, perform water quality tests on local water bodies and use an Enviroscape watershed model to learn how wetlands impact water quality.
* Kathi Decker, *Eagle Lake Elementary*, will receive $1,532. Students will take educational field trips to learn about Florida's environment and natural systems. Students will also participate in an Earth Day festival.
* Heather Teague, *Hillcrest Elementary School*, will receive $2,800. Students will study wetlands and take a field trip to Lowry Park Zoo's Wetland Connections program. They will also create conservation projects and take part in an Earth Day festival.
* Laura Mastrangelo, *Jewett School of the Arts*, will receive $1,142. Students will take part in freshwater outreach programs provided by the Florida Aquarium and create projects related to conservation.
* Deborah Emmons, *Lake Region High School*, will receive $1,525. Students will organize community cleanups and teach elementary students about Florida's water resources.
* Dennis Dill, *McKeel Academy*, will receive $2,020. Students will set up rain barrels to water a campus garden. They will also perform classroom experiments related to water quality and create multimedia projects illustrating what they have learned.
* Melissa Kelly, *Polk Avenue Elementary*, will receive $4,208. Students will take educational field trips to learn about freshwater resources and participate in hands-on activities.
* Ray Cruze, *Roosevelt Ac*ademy, will receive $3,816. Students will grow plants using a hydroponics system, comparing the amount of water used to produce crops using hydroponics to crops grown in the school's traditional row gardens.
* Darcy Fak, *Sleepy Hill Middle School*, will receive $2,247. Students will plant and monitor three identical gardens on campus, comparing the ways in which each garden is watered (hose watering, sprinklers and micro-irrigation).
* Carlos Rodriguez, *Snively Elementary*, will receive $1,808. Students will take a field trip to the Florida Aquarium to study watersheds and wetlands. Students will create projects documenting what they have learned.
* Dialne McCall and Debra Kennon, *Summerlin Academy*, will receive $782. Students will identify the presence of dissolved solids in lake, well, tap, distilled and bottled mineral water. They will evaluate the impacts of solute levels on human populations.
* Jenna Barefoot, *Tenoroc High School*, will receive $4,208. Students will grow plants using hydroponics, documenting growth to determine if vertical hydroponic gardening is an effective method of farming.
* Natalie Holland, *Wahneta Elementary School*, will receive $4,994. Students will take educational field trips to learn about freshwater habitats. They will document their project and share their findings with younger students at the school.
In addition to the county's public schools, four private schools were awarded Splash! grants.
* June Stewart, *All Saints' Academy*, will receive $3,170. Students will establish a classroom "mock stream" to practice water testing and perform experiments. They will also record daily weather conditions, take a field trip to Crystal Springs Preserve, add to an existing on-campus garden and create projects documenting their work.
* Jennifer Canady, *Lakeland Christian School*, will receive $1,725. Students will participate in the Organic Earth Outreach Program through Nature's Academy. Students will build a water cycle model, perform classroom experiments, participate in an oil spill simulation and create water filters using carbon, sand, soil and gravel.
* Carol Polkowski, *St. Joseph Catholic School*, will receive $1,943. Students will meet with a naturalist to study the school campus. They will take an educational field trip to learn about the watershed.
* Scott Nelson, *St. Paul Lutheran School*, will receive $3,914. Students will monitor and improve an on-campus retention pond. They will also perform water quality classroom experiments and take a field trip to Nature's Classroom in Hillsborough County.
The goal of the Splash! school grant program is to provide hands-on learning opportunities that teach students about their local watersheds and the freshwater resources within them. Splash! school grants provide up to $5,000 per school on a reimbursement basis only and are available to public, private and homeschool teachers.
"Past Splash! grant projects(2009 Splash! school grants)":/education/schoolgrants/projects.php 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 Splash! 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 "WaterMatters.org/publications/(Free publications)":/publications.