EUGENE ODUM ENVIRONMENTAL GRANTS

AWARDED TO 9 LOCAL SCHOOLS

Students at nine schools in Clarke, Madison and Oglethorpe counties have

received Eugene Odum Environmental Grants to carry out projects that help

students learn environmental lessons and improve their schools.

The Odum Grants are awarded as part of GreenFest 2008, which will be

held in March and April. This is the 16th year the $200 grants, named for

famed University of Georgia ecologist Eugene Odum, have been presented

as a way of encouraging young people to learn about environmental

problems and issues through hands-on activities.

Sponsors of the grants are Nutter & Associates, FCR, Merial Ltd.,

Power Partners, the Oconee Rivers Greenway Commission,

Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful, the Athens Grow Green Coalition, 

the Eugene Odum School of Ecology at UGA, the University Optimist Club and

the Kiwanis Club of Athens.

Following are brief descriptions of the projects, which students will conduct beginning in March:

–Students at Whit Davis Elementary School will create hand puppets and  present a puppet show that teaches about Earth Day and other environmental topics.

–Oglethorpe Avenue Elementary School will purchase a “weed wrench” to clear privet, kudzu and honeysuckle that have invaded a forested area the school uses for ecology lessons.

–Grants will fund three projects at Fowler Drive Elementary School. Students in grades 3-5 will adopt a stream near the school and monitor it for water quality.  Another group of students will buy cabinets for storing gardening tools. The third project involves studying proposed development on Jekyll Island and creating a presentation about the findings.

–As part of a “Green Art” unit that teaches respect for the environment, students at St. Joseph Catholic School will buy recycling bins for every classroom and teacher’s lounge.

–Athens Montessori middle school students will buy rain barrels to help supply water to the school’s nature reserve, vegetable garden, compost area and wildlife habitats.

–Third-graders at Hull-Sanford Elementary School will research plant habitats and  purchase seeds and materials to create a raised bed or a bog at the school.

–Fifth-graders at Comer Elementary School will clean up a deteriorating butterfly garden at the school and buy soil, mulch and plants to restart the garden.

–Oglethorpe County Primary School students will build bins and create a collection area for recycling aluminum cans, cell phones, printer cartridges, box tops and can labels to raise money for the school.

–The Ecomaniacs, a student environmental club at Oglethorpe County High School, will build a small, fenced-in pond to catch rain run-off that will be an attractive addition to the school and  provide an area for studying a wetland.

The late Eugene Odum, namesake of the grants, was an internationally known ecologist who was associated with the University of Georgia for more than 50 years.

For more information, call Larry Dendy at (706) 542-8078.

Eugene Odum