Thirteen Sumter 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 Sumter County awardees include:
- Patricia Allegar,Wildwood Middle School, will receive $400. Students will document their water use for one week. They will supplement their learning by reading a variety of books related to water conservation and water pollution.
- Allen Ashley,Lake Panasoffkee Elementary School, will receive $607.90. Students will be able to interact with a fresh water environment as a result of visiting the Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. They will also gain a better understanding of the water cycle by utilizing a weather station.
- Benachoice Caruthers,Wildwood Elementary School, will receive $1,835.50. Students will learn about the importance of water and how to conserve it by conducting several in-class activities and visiting Silver Springs Nature Park. They will also understand the concept of the water cycle by setting up a model and keeping cloud observation logs. Students will display what they have learned for their school community.
- Peggy Furtado,Webster Elementary School, will receive $1,313.91 Students will become watershed advocates after reading the book Flush by Carl Hiaasen, taking a field trip to Lowry Park Zoo and testing the water quality of local water bodies.
- George Joyce III,Lake Panasoffkee Elementary School, will receive $1,310. Students will take a field trip to the Florida Aquarium to learn about aquatic animals and their ecosystems. They will share their experiences on bulletin boards to be displayed at Parent/Teacher Organization Night.
- Norma King,Wildwood Middle School, will receive $1,025. Students will learn about the importance of conserving local natural resources by visiting Silver Springs Nature Park. and by identifying trees and the role they play in the water cycle. A culminating activity will include students creating their own brochures to describe how they can be advocates for the environment.
- Carole LaViolette,Wildwood Elementary School, will receive $742. Students will observe the technology and processes used to provide clean drinking water for their community by visiting the Ocala Water and Sewage Treatment plants. They will also observe and interact with fresh water life forms that must have clean water to survive as a result of visiting the Florida Aquarium.
- Erin Lewis,South Sumter Middle School, will receive $1,550. Students will learn about the value and delicacy of Florida’s habitats and how they relate to water resources by creating a Florida-friendly ecosystem. Students will demonstrate their learning through a variety of art projects.
- Susan Swartzfager,Wildwood High School, will receive $2,103.92. Students will learn that natural systems must be balanced for both plants and fish to survive by installing an aquaponics system. Through the course of the project, students will monitor plant growth, water quality and fish growth.
- Lynn Thomas,Webster Elementary School, will receive $1,778. Students will develop an understanding of plant and animal life and their needs in the watershed by visiting the Lowry Park Zoo.
- Brandi Valdez,Bushnell Elementary School, will receive $1,679. Through a series of labs, students will investigate ways that water from runoff can be filtered, treated and returned to recharge groundwater supplies. They will construct a model for a deep bed tertiary filter system to test the quality of reclaimed water. Data will be recorded and analyzed.
- Marylou Watson,Wildwood Elementary School, will receive $1,329.90. Students will develop an awareness of water-related issues by visiting Silver Springs Nature Park and reading supplemental trade books as part of their unit of study.
- Christopher Wright,Wildwood Elementary School, will receive $1,091.60. Students will experience first hand a local watershed and learn how plants and animals that are dependent on it have a direct influence over its health by visiting the Harris Chain of Lakes. They will create posters reflecting knowledge they have acquired about the importance of protecting natural water resources and watersheds.
Last year six mini-grants were awarded in Sumter 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/ .