Eastern Kentucky PRIDE has announced that $1,000 has been awarded to Clinton County Middle School for hands-on environmental education projects during the 2015/16 school year.

The school applied for and received two PRIDE grants that total $1,000. The grants will be used to buy environmental education books to expand the nonfiction section of the school library. Also, the school will buy plants native to Kentucky, and students will plant them in the school’s outdoor classroom. The goal is to show students the importance of environmental protection.

The funding was awarded last week and last October through the PRIDE Environmental Education Grant Program. The program was made possible by a grant to PRIDE from Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky (TMMK).

Overall, PRIDE awarded $32,253 to schools that applied for the grant program across 42 counties of southern and eastern Kentucky. The grants can be used for a variety of educational activities that help students appreciate and care for the environment and to serve their community.

“I want to congratulate the grant recipients and thank the educators who are leading these projects,” said PRIDE’s Tammie Wilson.

“Our region is blessed with incredible natural resources, so it is important that every generation learns how to be good stewards,” Wilson said. “PRIDE has been working in the schools for almost 20 years now, and we hear so many stories of children who changed their families’ habits on litter and recycling. Environmental education is making a difference in our region.”

“Beyond that, hands-on nature projects really help students learn a variety of subjects,” she explained. “The environmental education activities give them a chance to apply what they are learning in math and science and other classes. That means they understand and remember their lessons better.”

Since 1997, PRIDE has awarded 1,533 grants that impacted 745,575 students across the region. Schools have used PRIDE funds for a wide variety of activities, such as starting recycling programs and building outdoor classrooms, nature trails, wetlands and greenhouses.

Promoting environmental education is one of the key missions of PRIDE, a nonprofit organization. The other two missions are cleaning up the region’s waterways and removing solid waste problems. Founded in 1997 by Congressman Hal Rogers and the late General James E. Bickford, PRIDE works alongside citizens, teachers and elected officials to improve the region’s environment and quality of life.

For a complete list of grant recipients, please visit www.kypride.org.