“We are supplementing a local effort to provide outdoor learning to 36 school campuses throughout the district with $2 million of the $4 million received,” Doggett said during the briefing. “The other $2 million will go toward college and career readiness at our schools.”
Doggett said this money will be used to encourage and reinforce what AISD is already trying to do, which is to create opportunities to learn more about postsecondary education and to create outdoor learning situations similar to what St. Elmo Elementary School offers its students.
Ben McCormack, principal of St. Elmo Elementary School, said his school has received several grants to create outdoor learning experiences, such as a Monarch butterfly garden and rain garden for students. He said through the Urban Forestry grant, his school was able to plant 64 native trees on campus, and the school was designated a green park school.
“This opportunity really brings outdoor learning and career and college readiness together,” AISD interim Superintendent Matias Segura said during the briefing. "Any time we can pay for things like this outside of our general operating budget is a good thing. It allows us to use those funds for other things, like compensation. It's important that we cherish these opportunities and support these partnerships."
