September 18, 2002
Three San Francisco public schools received environmental education grants today
from Save-the-Redwoods League at an award ceremony at Dr. George Washington
Carver Academic Elementary School. Students from the three schools, the Carver
Elementary, Martin Luther King Middle, and San Francisco Community Schools planted
three redwood trees at the Adam Rogers Park. Save-the-Redwoods League announced
thirteen statewide education grant awards totaling $50,000 to K-12 educators,
teachers and students in San Francisco, Marin, Mendocino, Humboldt, and Del
Norte Counties.
Funds awarded to the Carver Elementary School are joined by funds from the Mayor’s office to support a community service component of the project which includes additional tree plantings and native plant restoration. “Save-the-Redwoods League’s education grants add to the rich mosaic of neighborhoods that makes San Francisco a distinct and treasured city, “noted Ron Vinson, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services.
“Research shows environment-based education improves academic performance. ‘Excellence for All,’ our five-year academic plan states, we must work with the community to achieve academic excellence for our students. I ‘d like to say thank you to Save the Redwoods League and our committed administrators and tireless teachers for giving our deserving children new learning opportunities, ” said Dr. Arlene Ackerman, Superintendent of the San Francisco Unified School District.
The grants are designed to facilitate implementation of redwood and forest stewardship themes across subject areas such as math, science, reading, and art both inside and outside of the classroom.
“Introducing urban students to the redwood forest is an important part of the League’s mission. We are very pleased to support the work of these determined teachers and educators,” said Katherine Anderton, the League’s Executive Director.
Begun just last year to meet the needs of educators, the education grants program awarded approximately $30,000 and reached nearly 12,000 students in Northern California in the 2001-2002 school year. One San Francisco student who visited Muir Woods earlier this year wrote, “I liked climbing into the hollow log and kissing the banana slug. The banana slug was kind of slimy. I liked walking on the hikes. I liked hugging the tree. We learned that when you are quiet you can hear the birds. It was cool looking at the very old trees.”
Grants were awarded as follows:
Del Norte County
Humboldt County
Mendocino County
Bay Area
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