Grant helps grow outdoor education, experiences
Howard Johnson is changing the way elementary, middle and high school students view the outdoors, one grant at a time.
Johnson, a seventh-grade life science and eighth-grade outdoor education and environmental teacher at Charleroi Area Middle School, has received roughly $38,000 in grant money over the last 10 years to construct an outdoor ecosystem.
Recently, the middle school and Johnson were awarded $1,213.66 from the Consortium for Public Education to install an automated mist and drop-water sprinkler system in the school’s greenhouse. Johnson said the system will allow him to more efficiently pull and use water from a water-collection system on top of the greenhouse.
“My seventh-graders are tough on water,” he said “They spill more on the floor than on the plants.”
When he applied in September for the grant, Johnson said his goal was to continue to build upon aspects he already had in place.
“I’m completely sustainable,” he said. “All of my projects are related, and deal with my outside ecosystem.”
Once the automated sprinkler system is installed – Principal Mary Tickner said it would mostly likely happen this spring – Johnson said students can increase the variety of flowers and plants grown in the greenhouse.
“Every spring we plant 2,000 tomato plants,” he said. “This system gets water to the roots, so it will allow us to expand.”
Tickner agreed.
“It will be easier,” she said. “The students can follow through and spend more time discussing plant life instead of watering.”
Johnson said the grant will benefit close to 750 students within the district.
“I partner with the elementary and high school teachers,” he said. “This enhancement will be beneficial to all of us. … It is also an opportunity for students to excel outside of the classroom. Many students do better with hands on, than in a book.”
The 16-by-24-foot greenhouse also teaches students the “importance of creating something they can use,” Tickner said.
“They start to understand and respect the people who do these jobs. They are not easy to do.” she said.
In January, Johnson said he was named the 2013 Carnegie Science Center’s Middle Level Teacher of the Year. He attributes his success to his use of the outdoors.
“Our students don’t come from a rural background,”Johnson said. “Some of them have never picked up a shovel or touched dirt. To watch them bring something to fruition, it is awesome.”