Grant enables Brewer pupils to gain lessons from garden

BREWER – Sixth-grade pupils at Brewer Middle School recently completed an extensive gardening project on school grounds with help from one of PPL Corporation’s first-ever educational grants.

Katherine Schwigan, a sixth-grade teacher at the school, was one of 11 educators in three states to receive a $2,000 PPL Project Earth Environmental Education Grant.

“PPL created the grant program to give teachers the opportunity to receive up to $2,000 for school projects that focus on environmental issues,” said Scott Hall, manager of environmental services for PPL Maine.

The grants are part of PPL Project Earth, which focuses the company’s resources on generating and delivering energy in an environmentally responsible and community friendly way.

The Brewer project, called the Everlasting Garden Party in Schwigan’s grant application, involved landscaping and planting flowers along the entire front portion of the Brewer Middle School, planting flowers alongside the bike path behind the school, and planting flowers in an elevated plot under the school sign.

The project started in late April as students cleared out old weeds and grass in preparation for the garden, which consisted of new soil and perennials.

“As with any party, preparation is the key to success of the Everlasting Garden Party,” Schwigan wrote in the grant request. “Through their investigations, the students will determine the ‘guest list’ of beneficial organisms such as soil bacteria. They will also keep out ‘party crashers’ such as invasive weeds and plant-destroying fungus.”

Plants and bushes that support the multiple needs of wildlife and “refreshments” such as fertilizer, composting and mulching were part of the project. Students developed party games that incorporated environmental dilemmas and issues affecting their world and support of biodiversity, according to Schwigan.

“We always are looking for new ways to partner with educators,” Hall said. “Our company has a responsibility as a major corporation to support the schools in the communities where we live and work.”

Educators from school districts near PPL power plants and major facilities in Maine, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Connecticut, New York and Illinois were eligible for the grants. They had to submit their proposals to PPL online.

“The Internet is allowing us to be more involved in the communities where we do business and where our employees live and work,” said Larry Sparta, PPL’s education relations director. “At the start of the next school year, we will offer additional opportunities to these educators.”