Students at four Midlands schools have a new opportunity to learn about the environment, thanks to grants from the Richland Soil and Water Conservation District. The grants fund hands-on environmental education projects at the schools, including composting, hydroponics and garden refurbishment.

The RSWCD awards the grants each spring and fall to support youth education initiatives at schools and education sites throughout Richland County. The latest grants bring the total awards to 100 totaling more than $47,000 since the grant program began in 2012.

Dutch Fork Elementary School in Irmo received $1,000 for its “crumbs to compost” project. Students learn to separate their compostable lunchroom waste from non-compostable garbage, diverting an average of 35 tons of food waste from the landfill annually through a commercial composting partnership with SMART Recycling and ReSoil Compost.

Brockman Elementary School and St. Joseph Catholic School in Columbia each received $1,000 for hydroponics projects. Brockman students will grow vegetables and sprouts using hydroponics in the classroom. They’ll then transform their harvest into salads for their classroom and community and use a traveling kitchen island to prepare and cook vegetables and greens.

Meanwhile, students at St. Joseph will expand their school gardening efforts using a farmstand system for hydroponics production. The school will donate produce harvested from its indoor and outdoor gardens to the Saint Vincent de Paul food pantry.

“It’s our hope students will see the connection between helping both the environment and community on a local and tangible scale, allowing them to see that ‘small people can make a big difference,’” said St. Joseph teachers Hilary Wilson and Michelle McLeod.

Pontiac Elementary School in Elgin received $750 to refurbish and expand an existing raised-bed garden area. The project allows students to learn about the needs of plants, adaptation, heritability, pollination, seed dispersal, habitat diversity, ecosystems and food webs. The garden also will provide food and shelter for birds whose habitat has been diminished by increased development in the area, according to fourth-grade teacher Rachel Tustin.

“There’s been a boom in development around our school that has resulted in less habitat for wildlife, especially birds,” Tustin said. “We’ll create a small wildlife zone in our garden to provide opportunities for birds to feed and find cover.”

The RSWCD accepts applications for these mini-grants for spring and fall semesters. The next application deadline is Jan. 22, 2024. For more information and application details, visit www.richlandcountysc.gov/rswcd.