Annandale schools get grants for environmental projects

Belvedere Elementary School’s outdoor classroom.

Two elementary schools in the Annandale area have been awardedgrants for environmental projects from Dominion Power’s foundation.

Canterbury Woods Elementary School was awarded $3,500 to create an outdoor classroom and science lab, where students will study the life cycles of seeds and monarch butterflies, learn about the interaction of animals and plants, and create a vegetable garden.

Belvedere Elementary School was awarded $1,500 to create a schoolwide seedling nursery to connect education with ecological restoration and community service. Students will learn about life cycles, habitats, and ecosystems while practicing such skills as measurement, computation, and identification. In a related project, an outdoor classroom in Belvedere’s courtyard was completed in April, with lots of help from parents and community volunteers.

The Dominion Foundation awarded more than $600,000 to Virginia K-12 schools and institutions of higher education for the 2013-14 academic year.