From NORTHWESTERN WATER AND SEWER DISTRICT
The Northwestern Water and Sewer District recently awarded grant funding to Elmwood Schools to support educational programs focused on water resources. The Water and Environment Teacher Education Resources (WATER) grants give back to schools by providing direct financial support to teachers who demonstrate a commitment to nurturing the next generation of environmental stewards.
The District awarded 13 WATER grants totaling $7,200 to Elmwood Middle and High School teachers. These grants aim to enhance water-focused educational initiatives and foster environmental stewardship among students. The recipients and their projects are as follows:
- Melissa Miller, a seventh-grade math teacher at Elmwood Middle School, will use a $300 grant to purchase containers to calculate volume, circumference, and area as applied to real-life water and wastewater applications.
- Elizabeth Miller, an eighth-grade social studies teacher, was awarded $700 to purchase a 3D raised world relief map to help students visually understand how landforms influence the movement of water across the Earth.
- Erin Shaffer, an eleventh-grade chemistry teacher at Elmwood High School, will receive $700 to purchase water testing kits to investigate drinking and surface water quality and learn how chemical parameters are monitored in municipal water and wastewater treatment systems.
- Katie Smith, a science teacher at Elmwood Middle School, will use a $700 grant to acquire lab supplies and materials for the school’s hydroponic grower.
- Natalie Genson, a fifth-grade language arts and social studies teacher, was awarded $500 to purchase Scholastic Action magazine subscriptions to help students understand current events and real-world issues, including water and wastewater education.
- Kelley Borton, a science teacher, will receive a $500 grant to purchase materials to sustain the use of the classroom hydroponic grower.
- Miranda Waltos, a fifth-grade language arts and social studies teacher, was awarded $500 to purchase maps, books, and digital and print resources for students to learn how different civilizations used and accessed water.
- Addison Richards, an eighth-grade science teacher at Elmwood Middle School, will receive $700 to purchase materials such as storage bins, sand, gravel, clay, and measuring tools for students to design and evaluate erosion stream tables and model how erosion, runoff, and deposition change the Earth’s surface over time.
- Kyle McKibben, an eighth-grade math teacher at Elmwood Middle School, will use a $400 grant to purchase containers to calculate the volume of cones, spheres, and cylinders. The grant will also fund thermometers for an experiment to graph and analyze heating and cooling data for water.
- Shelby Bratt, an ELA instructor, was awarded $300 to purchase Scholastic SCOPE magazines featuring scientific and environmental articles related to water and wastewater treatment.
- Rebecca Peery, a fifth-grade science teacher, will use her $700 WATER grant to provide students with research materials needed to build biome boxes.
- Kelly Bates, a special education teacher at Elmwood Middle School, will receive $700 to purchase containers and measuring tools to support life skills development.
- Ashley Smith, a fifth-grade language arts and social studies teacher, will use $500 to purchase nonfiction books and digital resources to increase student knowledge of how ancient civilizations and Native Americans used water sources in a variety of ways.
Launched in 2014, the WATER grant program reflects the district’s mission of responsible environmental stewardship and responsive public service. By investing directly in classroom resources, the program aims to bridge scientific knowledge with environmental understanding.
