NC Beautiful Presents Windows of Opportunity Grant to Carolina Friends School

NC Beautiful, a provider of environmental education and beautification opportunities that elevate the quality of life of North Carolinians, recently participated in a check presentation ceremony for one of its 32 grant recipients. The event was held on Jan. 22 and featured Steve Vacendak, Executive Director of NC Beautiful, and Alan Herosian, Director, Corporate Alliances & Development for Duke University Health System and a current NC Beautiful Board of Director, presenting a $1,000 grant check to Carolina Friends School (CFS) teacher, Mig Little Hayes.

Windows of Opportunity (WOO) provides educational grants to NC teachers to reward their creativity fostering environmental stewardship, leadership, and awareness and initiating a sense of community service. CFS’ WOO project submission was entitled "An Environmental Documentary Project For Kids and By Kids". In her grant proposal, Hayes wrote that her middle school students would research current data on energy issues, will interview students about their energy knowledge and opinions about global warming, and will document the ways in which both CFS classes and individual students are making and can make a difference.

Hayes has been a teacher at CFS for 22 years where she "wears many hats". She’s the librarian for both middle and upper school, she teaches 8th grade English, she serves as a middle school advisor, and she is part of the "tech team", which offers computer/tech support to staff and students. Hayes explains that her intention is for the finished film to serve many purposes.

"Not only do we intend to share our documentary with our lower, middle, and upper school students, we also will be showing the film at an environmental conference for independent schools in April 2008 that we’ll be hosting," says Hayes. "Additionally, we would like to share this film with other schools in the area, networking with other educators and students around this critical issue."

CFS’ documentary has three main goals: to provide accurate information about climate change and global warming on a level that kids can understand and can feel empowered to get involved; to document the significant work that CFS students and faculty have already done; and to encourage all viewers of the film, both young and old, to get involved in energy conservation efforts in their communities.

This year’s WOO Grants recognized schools from 17 North Carolina counties. Vacendak says that it is NC Beautiful’s goal to offer an annual grant in all of the state’s 100 counties. "Unfortunately, not many schools are aware of our organization and the educational grants available," explains Vacendak. "We hope that through public relations and continued word of mouth, that teachers like Mig will take advantage of these educational grants in order to promote responsible and good environmental stewardship to their students."

Hayes admits that she didn’t know about NC Beautiful until she applied for the WOO grant. "I think it’s wonderful that the state organization works to support vital environmental projects," says Hayes. "This [documentary] project is ambitious, but we feel that peer education, support, and a collective awareness of our environmental problems really work. Students working on this project will educate themselves and their peers and will no doubt influence not just the habits of people in their school community, but in their home and neighborhood as well. The creative possibilities for the video are limitless, and we’re grateful to NC Beautiful for allowing us to make this project a reality."

About NC Beautiful
NC Beautiful has been part of the state’s environmental preservation community for 40 years, supporting awareness, education and beautification efforts that affect our quality of life. Today, we concentrate on hands-on and merit-based programs designed to empower our citizens to preserve the natural beauty of the state of North Carolina. Whether it’s school children building outdoor classrooms, graduate students developing cutting-edge research, or a Boy Scout troop planting azaleas at an elder care facility, we make it possible for North Carolinians to keep NC Beautiful.