LK Ag Teacher receives $1,500 grant

From Staff Reports

LINDEN-- Lin­den-Kildare High School received funding from Collins Academy and the Today Foundation totaling nearly $1,500 for a proposal submit­ted by Mariah McPher­son, Agriculture Teach­er and FFA Advisor at Linden-Kildare High School.

Grant funding will be used by McPherson to purchase supplies and materials necessary for the school green­house to become the Linden-Kildare Native Plant Center. “The goal of the project is for McPherson’s Wild­life Management and Horticulture students to provide public and private landowners with a source for native plants, stated Gary End­sley, Director of Collins Academy. “Side bene­fits include education of students and the com­munity on native flora and fauna, improved habitat for pollinators including the Monarch Butterfly, and increased awareness of environ­mental issues in our re­gion,” he added.

Linden-Kildare Native Plant Center will work with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Collins Acade­my, private landowners, and managers of public properties in the Big Cypress Watershed to improve wildlife habitat by restoring wetlands, riparian, and upland landscapes.

Two basic steps are involved: (1) the raising of nectar producing pol­linator and host plants, and (2) the monitoring of use of these plant­ings by target organ­isms such as honey bees and butterflies. By rais­ing and installing native plants and monitoring use, students will learn and use important prin­cipals of ecology and land management relat­ed to the improvements of wildlife habitat.

The Collins Academy, a program of the Today Foundation, located in Jefferson, Texas, pro­vides hands-on learning opportunities that focus on environmental con­servation and historic preservation. The Col­lins Academy is work­ing in conjunction with the Environmental Pro­tection Agency (EPA) to provide area schools the opportunity to develop an environmental proj­ect for their school or community.

Known as the ‘Paddle­fish Reintroduction Ed­ucation Initiative’, this grant empowers each participating school to develop a project that reflects efforts of the Collins Academy and the EPA toward promot­ing environmental stew­ardship.

As a capstone, par­ticipating classes will present results of their projects during the Pad­dlefish Festival sched­uled for May 18-19, in Jefferson. At this event, students will enjoy a day of exciting natural science presentations while expanding their knowledge of environ­mental stewardship in a changing world.