Northeast Iowa – Nearly 2,000 students from Northeast Iowa schools now have an
opportunity, they may have otherwise missed, to learn firsthand about Iowa’s rich
agricultural heritage. This year Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area (SSNHA)
has awarded $10,280 to 37 schools within the Heritage Area; helping cover the costs of
field trips to 21 different SSNHA Partner Sites. Some of the sites that will be visited
throughout the school year include; Hansen’s Farm Fresh Dairy, Hudson; Living History
Farms, Urbandale and Herbert Hoover Presidential Museum, West Branch.
The bus grants, which help to cover the transportation costs associated with field trips to
SSNHA Partner Sites, are awarded on a first-received, first-funded basis to accredited
Pre K-12 public, private or charter schools located in the Heritage Area; with a
maximum of $350 per school building. Funding for this program is made possible
through individual contributions, corporate donations and federal funds. Specifically
SSNHA would like to thank the Growmark Foundation for their 3-year financial
contribution to the Bus Grant Program.
“We are excited to once again offer this valuable program that allows each of these
students an opportunity to learn more about America’s agricultural story by visiting
cultural and farm sites here in Iowa,” commented Don Short, SSNHA President.
Schools receiving grants include (arranged alphabetically by community):
AGWSR Community Schools, Ackley; Bellevue Elementary, Bellevue; Northeast
Hamilton, Blairsburg; Cleveland Elementary, Cedar Rapids; Harding Middle School,
Cedar Rapids; Lincoln Elementary, Charles City; Coggon Elementary, Coggon; Decorah
Middle School, Decorah; St. Benedict , Decorah; Bryant Elementary, Dubuque; Eleanor
Roosevelt Middle School, Dubuque; Union Middle School, Dysart; Learn & Play A to Z,
Evansdale; Immaculate Conception School, Gilbertville; Janesville Consolidated School
District, Janesville; Maquoketa Middle School, Maquoketa; Dike-New Hartford Junior
High, New Hartford; Carpenter Elementary, Monticello; Shannon Elementary,
Monticello; Nashua-Plainfield Elementary, Nashua; New Hampton Middle School, New
Hampton; Aurora Heights Elementary, Newton; Benton Community Schools, Norway;
Osage Middle School, Osage; Preston Community Schools, Preston; Riceville
Community School, Riceville; St. Ansgar Community School, St. Ansgar; North-Linn
Elementary, Troy Mill; Jensen Elementary, Urbandale; Olmsted Elementary, Urbandale;
Rolling Green, Urbandale; Blessed Sacrament, Waterloo; Kittrell Early Childhood
Center, Waterloo; Sacred Heart, Waterloo; St. Edward, Waterloo; East Elementary,
Waukon; and West Cedar Elementary, Waverly.
SSNHA is currently working to raise funds for the 2013-2014 school year. To donate to
the SSNHA Education Scholarship Fund, visit www.silosandsmokestacks.org and click
on “Giving” along the bottom bar.
Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area is one of 49 federally designated heritage
areas in the nation and is an Affiliated Area of the National Park Service. The Heritage
Area covers 37 counties in the northeast quadrant of Iowa. Interstate 80 borders it on
the south and Interstate 35 borders it on the west. Through a network of sites, programs
and events, SSNHA interprets farm life, agribusiness and rural communities – past and
present.
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