The Leo Club and Art Club at Halfway Schools recently adopted the Sunset Bridge, which is located between Bolivar and Halfway, for a community beautification project.  The bridge had suffered at the hands of vandals and was left covered in inappropriate graffiti.  Students in Leo Club and the Art Club applied to the Rural Schools Partnership Conco Community Arts program in November 2009 and received funds to beautify the bridge with colorful, appropriate images.  The students then applied their artistic flair on the bridge in the spring. 

“We appreciate the support of the grant to help us with our project,” sponsor Colleen Banks said.  “This project means a lot to us and the community.”

The Hartville R-II School District established The Hartville Teacher’s Support Fund so that each teacher will have first day of school classroom funding. Hartville is a new Agency Partner in the education category.

The newly formed Hartville School Foundation established a fund to support the programs and projects of the Hartville R-II School District. The Foundation also becomes a new Agency Partner in education.

The Reeds Spring R-IV School District and School Foundation have established the Reeds Spring Youth Empowerment Project Fund to support charitable projects and programs involving and benefitting youth.  Reeds Spring becomes the 31st Youth Empowerment Project to join the YEP of the Ozarks network.

The Youth Empowerment Project – Eldon has recently hosted an on-site stream clean up project in the Eldon area.  This project, which was funded with a youth conservation grant of the Rural Schools Partnership, was attended by students in the Mustang Force program.  Mustang Force is a program which is attended by 50 at-risk 4th-6th graders who struggle with grades, attendance, or behavior choices.   Students in the program receive training to students in conservation and preservation of natural resources. 

“This grant has reinforced the  natural resource conservation training the students received this year,” YEPe coordinator Daphney Patridge said.

The student conservation grant also funded native plant landscaping at the Eldon Middle School.  Trees and flowers were planted by Mustang Force students in April.

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The Coover Place-Based Education Grants – These grants provide support for innovative ventures focused on the tenets of place-based education. Proposals that include matching funds or other leveraged resources are encouraged. The grants range from $10,000 to $20,000 for the eight to 15 projects awarded annually. This program is made possible through the Louis L. and Julia Dorothy Coover Charitable Foundation Regional Grantmaking of Commerce Trust Company.

The Conco Community Arts Program – This program, made possible by the Conco Companies, provides grants of $500 to $1,500 for student-led community arts efforts.

The Student Wellness Grants Program – These grants of $500 to $1,500 are designated for student-led wellness activities and projects. This program is made possible by the Ed and Virginia Heer Family Foundation Fund.

In addition to the three RSP grant cycles, the Community Foundation also opened several other grant cycles, including the Louis L. and Julia Dorothy Coover Charitable Foundation Regional Grantmaking Program aimed at fighting rural poverty.

For more information on the Rural Schools Partnership Grant Programs, please e-mail Julie Leeth, Executive Vice President, or call her at (417) 864-6199.

Route 60 project coordinator Becki Knobloch (far right) shows REAP coordinator Emma Alexander (far left) and a student how to spot a tomato horn worm.

Starla James and Tori Henton work to prepare the soil for planting at the Oak Grove Heights project.

First, the project began in the greenhouse at Rogersville Middle School. REAP coordinator Emma Alexander first signed on to the Healthy Roots Along Route 60 project, a project funded by Missouri Foundation for Health and CFO and administered by Fordland Clinic, in the winter of 2010.  By March, Emma and student volunteers from the school district had begun planting in the unused greenhouse. 

After beginning the Oak Grove Heights project, where corn, squash, peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, beans, and a number of other items of produce will be used to feed people in need in the Rogersville area, the REAP student ambassadors looked for another project location.  An opportunity to create a third project in an unused area of property next to the First Baptist Church became available. 

REAP students immediately took advantage of the empty space and willing volunteers at the First Baptist Church and built four long, raised beds.  In the beds, they planted a variety of vegetables which will also be used to feed those in need in the area.  Students in the church youth program now provide maintenance on the garden and complete major work on Wednesdays during their youth group meetings.

Congratulations to the REAP project for sharing gardening enthusiasm with the Rogersville community!

Elementary students participate in the Plein Air Paint Out on May 18th.

Valle Catholic School students have recently been learning about plein air painting thanks to a Rural Schools Partnership Conco Community Arts Program grant.  Angie Dalton from Valle Schools applied for a grant to support a Plein Air Paintout, in which students paint outdoors to capture light, atomosphere and mood in the day at the time one paints.

Plein air painting is done quickly in order to reflect light and shadows at a given moment.  This short-term painting was very well received by Valle students of all ages, who met for their first Paint Out on May 18th.  Students ages four to 18 used watercolors, oil pastel, charcoal, sharpies, or pencils to create their works.

“There are a numerous budding young artists in the county and we are happy with their enthusiasm of painting ‘en plein aire’,” Ms. Dalton said.

The event was so well received that another plein air event will be held in the fall to give Ste. Genevieve County youth another opportunity to participate.

Students participating in the Fordland youth gardening project have been working to establish a blueberry garden on the Fordland schools property, and students recently held a blueberry educational course and planting to learn more about their crop.  Matt Waters, owner of Waters Blueberry Farm in Smithville, made a presentation to students about the effective ways care for their new blueberry crop. 

FFA teacher and gardening project coordinator Tommy Scrivner led students in building raised beds and amending soil into the beds.  Next the students planted the first series of blueberry bush into the new raised beds.  Though the berries will not produce a large crop this year, students are excited about establishing them in anticipation of future crops.

The Gainesville Youth Empowerment Project, with help from a Rural Schools Partnership youth conservation grant, have begun an aluminum and plastic recycling program at the high school, middle school, and elementary school.  During the summer, the recycling containers have been relocated to places in the community, where they can be used while school is out of session.  The grant funded ten portable and reusable recycling containers (like the one pictured above), which have greatly improved the recycling efforts in the Gainesville community. 

Congratulations to the Gainesville YEP on developing this meaningful contribution to Gainesville!

Students in the Aurora High School Industrial Technology department have been hard at work learning about solar technology thanks to a Rural Schools Partnership student conservation grant.  Students in the Advanced Engineering Design class at Aurora purchased and assembled 60 watts of solar panels, which they attached to a deep cycle storage battery.  After assembling the solar panels, students in the Technology Student Association visited the home of Mitchel and Cherryl Ross in Stockton, MO to learn more about energy efficiency.

“Mitch and Cherryl were great hosts to our students and did a wonderful job of demonstrating how their house was built to utilize alternative forms of energy to reduce their impact on the environment,” said sponsor Brad Boettler.

Students then took their knowledge about solar energy and shared that information with others with a booth at the Shepherd of the Hills Earth Day celebration.  The solar panels on display were used to support the booth PowerPoint presentation and laptop computer. 

“We intend to continue to use the panels for the education of our students,” Boettler said.  “The panels are a great hands on tool to educate our students on the application and use of renewable energy sources.”