Media Contact:
Katie Blevins
Executive Coordinator
936-560-5624
info@keepnacbeautiful.org
Keep Nacogdoches Beautiful(KNB) will receive a thank you card from TJR students on Thursday, January 26, at 9:30 am. The students are involved in a gardening program that was awarded a KNB education grant during the 2016/2017 school year.
Keep Nacogdoches Beautiful (KNB) has been invited to receive a thank you presentation from students at Thomas J. Rusk (TJR) Elementary. The presentation will take place on Thursday, January 26, at 9:30 a.m. at the TJR Garden at the intersection of N. Fredonia St. and Arnold St.
Keep Nacogdoches Beautiful awarded an education grant in the amount of $400 to support the gardening project at TJR Elementary. The garden is operated by volunteers from Resilient Nacogdoches. Students in the gardening program apply various principles from the Learn, Grow, Eat, Go curriculum developed by the Texas A&M County Extension Office. Objectives include planting, harvesting and sampling vegetables.
“Its wonderful to see all the ways that folks are showing up to support school gardening programs,” said Jocelyn Moore, Resilient Nacogdoches member. “The grant money that KNB awarded to the garden programs at TJR and Carpenter Elementary Schools, as well as the high school, will go a long way to provide quality gardening tools, infrastructure and cooking equipment for the students,” Moore said. “I am proud to live in a city that values teaching its students how to grow their own food and the importance of eating fruits and vegetables.”
TJR Elementary was one of six schools in Nacogdoches County to be awarded an education grant from KNB. Other schools that received grants are Emeline Carpenter Elementary School, Mike Moses Middle School, Central Heights Elementary and Nettie Marshall Academy of Dual Language. Two projects were funded through KNB grants at Nacogdoches High School.
“All of the grant recipients are creating gardens or implementing recycling programs this year,” Katie Blevins, KNB Executive Coordinator, said.
“Recipients of KNB grants create beautification, litter management and waste reduction projects throughout Nacogdoches County,” said Cheryl Bartlett, KNB board member, “They involve kids and teach them how to improve the quality of the environment in their own community.”
Any pre-K through grade 12 classroom or campus in Nacogdoches County, public or private, was eligible for a grant. Qualifying applications featured beautification and/or education projects that align with one or more of Keep Nacogdoches Beautiful’s core values: litter prevention, beautification, community improvement, waste reduction and resources, conservation, recycling and environmental education.
Keep Nacogdoches Beautiful is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, volunteer organization that promotes beautification, waste reduction and litter prevention through individual responsibility across Nacogdoches County. Keep Nacogdoches Beautiful is a local affiliate of Keep Texas Beautiful and Keep America Beautiful. More information about Keep Nacogdoches Beautiful and the current programs can be found at keepnacbeautiful.org.
Additional Contacts:
Jocelyn Moore, SFA Gardens
Resilient Nacogdoches Representative
936-205-7180
jocelyn.n.moore@gmail.com
Amber Mims
NISD Public Relations Specialist
936-569-5000, 8878
amims@nhsdragons.org
amims@nacisd.org
