Students from Drake University and two central Iowa public school districts will receive $67,595 from the State Farm Youth Advisory Board to fund an innovative environmental education project.
A check presentation will be held at 9:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 14, at the Metro Waste Authority’s Environmental Learning Center, 11730 SE 6th Ave., Mitchellville. (Directions: http://www.mwatoday.com/locations/elc/).
During the year-long project, Drake students and faculty will work with high school students from Southeast Polk and Des Moines Public Schools to coordinate a major stream restoration designed to ease flooding and improve water quality in the Camp Creek watershed area. Students and staff representatives from Drake, Southeast Polk, and Des Moines schools will also study the environmental impact of the ongoing restoration project.
Planning for the project has already begun, and groundbreaking is expected to begin next summer.
“All of Iowa is dealing with high water, erosion, and water quality issues—a number of streams could use this kind of project,” said David Courard-Hauri, director of the environmental science and policy program at Drake University. “Drake has a long history of environmental projects in the Camp Creek area, and we are excited to work with our partners at Metro Waste and in the public schools to advance this initiative.”
Drake is one of 65 community organizations to receive a service-learning, youth-led grant from the State Farm Youth Advisory Board across the United States and Canada this year. The State Farm Youth Advisory Board has granted over $32 million in grant money since its inception in 2006, empowering youth to implement service-learning in 520 communities.