District offers teachers funding opportunity to educate students on water conservation

These high school students participated in water quality sampling and monitoring through the District’s Blue School Grant Program.

PALATKA, Fla., August 4, 2022 — Now entering the seventh year of its Blue School Grant Program, the St. Johns River Water Management District with full support of its Governing Board is offering up to $20,000 in grants for education projects that enrich student knowledge of Florida’s water resources through hands-on learning. The application period runs August 1–Sept. 15 and is available to middle and high school teachers within the 18-county area.

“The District’s Blue School Grant program is a unique and meaningful way for us to help our local schools educate students on the importance of water conservation and how to be good stewards of the environment now and in the future,” said St. Johns River Water Management District Education Coordinator, Laura La Beur.

To date, the District has funded 75 water resource education projects with a total of nearly $105,000 awarded to local schools.

Through the District’s Blue School Grant Program, up to $2,000 per school may be awarded to middle and high schoolteachers to enhance student knowledge of Florida’s water resources. Public and charter teachers within the District’s boundaries are eligible to apply.

Examples of previous successful grant applications include:

• Service-learning projects where middle and high school students partnered to study water quality
• Water quality comparison of stormwater ponds on campus
• Conversion of traditional irrigation to micro-irrigation in school landscape
• Water conservation awareness posters and video

Teachers receiving grants will be notified in late October.

Information about criteria and deadlines and the online application can be found at www.sjrwmd.com/education/blueschool or contact Laura La Beur at LLaBeur@sjrwmd.com or 321-473-1339.