Piney Woods Elementary School has been awarded a $2,500 grant from Dominion Energy.
The Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation awarded the grant to Piney Woods Elementary School through a competitive Environmental Education and Stewardship grants program. The money will fund a MOTUS Bird Tracking Program at the school, a device that will track tagged birds along with their migration
routes from their wintering grounds in the tropics to their nesting grounds in North America.
“Piney Woods Elementary has been working diligently since before our doors opened to create a campus focused on conservation work and bringing learning alive for our students,” said Piney Woods Elementary School Principal Cassy Paschal. “The Dominion Energy grant will purchase all of the needed materials for our MOTUS bird tower as well as other birdhouses and informational signs throughout our campus. The instructional and conservation
rewards that will come from this work will make a positive impact for generations to come in our community.”.
Jay Keck, Habitat Education Manager at the SC Wildlife Federation (SCWF), assisted Paschal during the construction of Piney Woods Elementary to envision how the school could connect students to nature, conservation, and their mascot, the Purple Martin. Along with Purple Martin racks and nest boxes for other songbirds being installed on the campus with help from the SCWF, the school’s PTO, SC Audubon, and the Nemours Wildlife Foundation have been working together to bring a MOTUS tower to the school.
“After witnessing Cassy’s passion, we began making calls to other conservation organizations to help the school achieve its objective to connect the students to conservation and nature,” said Keck. “Leaning on the experience and expertise of Jennifer Tyrell, Engagement Manager with the SC Audubon, the tower will give conservation groups like SCWF and SC Audubon the opportunity to teach students about the challenges birds face, solutions to help declining bird species, and connect them to Purple Martins and the planet in ways they never imagined.”
Eligible organizations to receive grant money include nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations and public and private K-12 schools in communities served by Dominion Energy companies. The Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation considers grant requests up to $50,000 that focus on specific, short-term projects that promise measurable results to improve the environment, and K-12 requests up to $5,000. The projects should support one or more of the following priorities:
- Educating students and the public about environmental stewardship
- Protecting and preserving natural habitats
- Improving open spaces and making nature accessible
The Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation has awarded $1.3 million in grants to 118 organizations working to improve natural spaces or teach about the environment. Over the last 15 years, Dominion Energy has donated over $37 million to a wide variety of environmental projects across its footprint.
Photo Courtesy: SC Audubon
