GE Teachers Win Grant

Two GE SHS teachers receive grants for classroom & community collaboration programs totaling $1,000 -

Colette McCarthy, a GE Science teacher and advisor of Nature's Classroom Club and Kris Foote, GE Family and Consumer Science teacher and advisor of Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) at Schenectady High School received a $500 Kids Growing Food Garden grant from Cornell University and a $500 Climate Change Energy Education Award from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

The Kids Growing Food Garden program is designed to connect kids to agriculture by actually growing food at school. The grant provides educators with financial start-up funds and educational tools that help integrate knowledge of the food and fiber system into the classroom.

The teachers were awarded $500 as "seed" money to help them purchase what is necessary to start a garden classroom. Garden-based lessons will be integrated into regular classroom studies such as math, science, language arts, and history.

Ms. McCarthy and Mrs. Foote said they wanted to find an opportunity for students to increase their understanding and appreciation of agriculture, nutrition, and the food system. They agree that growing food at school will help the students gain an understanding of how the local food system works and serves as a link to local farmers, businesses, and others involved in agriculture. As recipients of the grant, the teachers will receive educational resources, workshop opportunities, and access to a growing network of school food gardeners through the Kids Growing Food Network.

The cross-curricular plan includes an array of teachers of different grades and subjects, as well as administrative and custodial staff from both SHS and Central Park International Magnet School. The grant not only requires that students from elementary to high school be involved but also calls for community involvement. Representatives from the Central Park Greenhouse and Roots and Wisdom both Schenectady County Extension programs are partners in the program.

Since 1998, Kids Growing Food, a New York Agriculture in the Classroom program, has helped create and support over 325 school food gardens, providing K-12 students throughout New York with hands-on food growing experiences. For more information about the program, visit the NY Ag in the Classroom website at www.nyaged.org/aitc/ New York.
Ms. McCarthy and Mrs. Foote were also awarded a Climate Change Energy Education Award from NYSERDA. The teachers received $500 to support their proposal, A Blooming Idea: Implanting Climate Change in Indoor/Outdoor Gardens.

Within the proposal they presented an opportunity for students to increase their understanding and appreciation of using energy wisely and moving from fossil fuels to renewable energy. The teachers said their goal is to promote sustainable pro-green behaviors in Schenectady High School students, their families, and the community. The program will support efforts to involve students in community-based energy projects. This grant program will also include an array of teachers of different grades and subjects as well other staff members from SHS. For more information about the Climate Change Energy Education Award, visit the NYSERDA website at http://www.nyserda.org/