Representatives of Jefferson School receive their grant check from Donna Drewes and Rick Dovey of Sustainable Jersey and Russell J. Furnari of PSE&G.
South Mountain and Jefferson elementary schools are among 34 schools being awarded grants by Sustainable Jersey for Schools this spring.
Each school will receive $2,000 in small grants funded by the PSEG Foundation. They join three other South Orange-Maplewood District schools that received Sustainable Jersey/NJEA Grants last December.
The Jefferson School grant is for “Once Is Not Enough,” a program that will expand the school’s capacity for recycling by supplying more bins for rooms, teaching students to participate in the recycling process, and conducting a waste audit.
The South Mountain School grant is for “Capacity Building,” a project to organize the school’s Green Team and kick-off several sustainable actions throughout the school.
“We are extremely excited about receiving the 2016 Sustainable Jersey for Schools Small Grant. Teaching children sustainability also teaches children respect,” said Jefferson fourth grade teacher Deb Bialer. “When children learn to care for the planet by protecting its resources, they also learn to care for everything in our world.”
Representatives of South Mountain Elementary receive their grant check from Donna Drewes and Rick Dovey of Sustainable Jersey and Russell J. Furnari of PSE&G.
In December, Maplewood Middle School, Tuscan Elementary School and Seth Boyden Demonstration School were awarded grants in the amounts of $2,000, $2,000 and $10,000, respectively.
Projects awarded grants by Sustainable Jersey/PSEG Foundation in other districts this spring were for food composting, outdoor classrooms, sustainability education, rainwater collection and more.
“The grants create an opportunity for teachers, administrators and their respective communities to shape the future of their students and schools for years to come,” said Donna Drewes, who co-directs Sustainable Jersey with Randall Solomon. She extended her congratulations to all of the schools and districts that received grants. “Grant funding will build capacity as schools embark on sustainability projects making today’s real winners the students,” Drewes said.
The PSEG Foundation has contributed over one million dollars in funding to the Sustainable Jersey Small Grants Program. “Our long standing partnership with Sustainable Jersey has helped to empower schools to develop projects that provide students with the opportunity to learn more about sustainability, protecting the environment and STEM education,” said Ellen Lambert, president of the PSEG Foundation.
