The Watauga Democrat recently reported about Parkway School's education grant for Lettuce Learn program. The Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation has awarded a $5,000 Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant to Parkway School in Boone. The grant will aid in repairing and updating the SunCatcher passive solar greenhouse, an important resource in the Lettuce Learn school gardening program. Parkway is one of 593 schools across the United States to be awarded a Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant during its fall 2016 grants cycle for improvement projects. The mission of the Lettuce Learn School Garden is to support teachers and school leaders to create edible landscapes and outdoor classroom areas for learning by providing staff, training and resources. These learning opportunities allow children to engage with their natural world, enable them to make healthy choices and encourage them to help build sustainable communities. The SunCatcher passive solar greenhouse is an important resource for the Lettuce Learn program at Parkway as it allows the students to continue growing plants throughout the school year in a sustainable way without using fossil fuels or electricity to heat the structure in the winter. The SunCatcher was constructed over 15 years ago, as a part of the Parkway Ecology Project by parent volunteers using grant funds for materials. The structure has had very little maintenance work completed on it in this time frame. An automation system will enhance the efficiency of the operation of the greenhouse and serve as an example for students of how technology can be used to automate and control the environment in a building. “Our school and community will greatly benefit from this grant. We wish to thank our friends at Lowe’s for generously supporting this important project,” said Stephanie Weeks, principal of Parkway School. “We look forward to the new learning opportunities our updated passive solar greenhouse will provide for our students.” Comments are closed.
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ContributorsHaley Childers, Communications Chair Archives
November 2022
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