West Elementary receives grants for repairs

By Staff
from staff reports
West Elementary is in the process of refurbishing the nature trail to provide students with an area to study plants, flowers, insects, and birds native to Alabama.
The nature trail provides an opportunity for students to explore various aspects of nature outside of the regular classroom and helps to make lessons a part of everyday life.
To help with the funding of the project, the school obtained a grant from Legacy, Inc.: Partners in Environmental Education totaling $2500.00. This funding will help buy various plants, books and videos. Other plans for implementing the grant include the following:
Clean up and repair existing trail.
Plant butterfly bushes, sunflowers, and vegetables.
Plant a pumpkin and watermelon patch.
Hang birdhouses and hummingbird feeders.
The Parent Teacher Organization, along with members of the faculty, organized a workday for the nature trail on Oct. 30. More than 40 volunteers including parents, faculty members, Boy Scouts (Troop 39), and Boy Scout parents joined the effort.
Volunteers helped by cutting trees, trimming, and preparing areas for future use. The scouts, led by Ben and Art Richey, placed signs identifying several types of trees throughout the area.
This project can be of great benefit to the school system and community for many years to come.
The nature trail provides unique opportunities for teachers to enrich lessons, for local organizations to carry out service projects, and a place where clubs can meet in a natural setting.