City of Austin

This spring, students and teachers at local schools will take steps to ensure a bright green future for Austin by creating community gardens and wildlife habitats, conserving water, implementing green infrastructure projects, diverting waste from the landfill, and improving air quality by getting out of cars and onto bikes.

Funding for 28 innovative projects at local elementary, middle, and high schools is provided by the City of Austin’s Office of Sustainability, Austin Resource Recovery, Austin Convention Center, and the Watershed Protection, Public Works, and Austin Transportation Departments.

“Our city’s students and teachers continue to inspire me with their passion for sustainability and commitment to Austin’s future,” said Chief Sustainability Officer Lucia Athens. “We are proud to support their efforts with this seed money to help realize their vision.”

THIS YEAR'S BRIGHT GREEN FUTURE GRANT RECIPIENTS ARE:

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS:

• Cycle Academies at Langford, Sanchez, Zavala, Hart, Perez, Houston, and Austin Achieve Public School will teach students how to safely ride and properly maintain their bikes.

• The Rainwater Redistribution project at Linder will collect and manage stormwater run-off on campus.

• New rain cisterns in the Water-Wise Infrastructure Garden at Joslin will educate students about water conservation.

• Students at Rodriquez, Oak Hill, Pease, and Blanton will participate in the PEAS (Partners for Education Agriculture and Sustainability) Trash-to-Treasure Gardening program, which embraces the concept of Zero Waste through gardening.

• At the Austin Discovery School, the Discovery Eco-Pond will promote a healthy habitat for plants and animals in an outdoor classroom setting.

• The Pollinator Garden and Greenhouse project at Kiker hopes to revive the health of bees, butterflies, and other pollinators.

• Davis students will conduct classes outside in their new Pocket Prairie Outdoor Learning Space.

• Installation of the WaterWise Garden at Blair Woods will provide students at Sims and Ortega with a family-focused, hands-on nature immersion curriculum focused on water conservation.

• Brentwood’s Reuse Exchange Center will provide teachers, students, and parents with opportunities to donate and share materials for everyday learning and larger DIY projects.

• For the Garden Beds-to-Café Project at Brooke, students will research and select an eco-friendly and effective water filtration system for the school’s vegetable garden.

MIDDLE SCHOOLS:

• The Water-Wise Garden at Webb will provide water for the school’s garden, as well as address stormwater drainage issues on campus.

• Recycling, composting, and healthy eating habits will be the focus of the Green Teen After-School Program at Foundation Communities.

• Kealing Middle School’s Cycle Academy will help students develop safe biking skills and teach them how to calculate their carbon footprint; to graduate from the academy, students must teach a classmate or family member about bicycle safety.

• The Bailey Gateway Livestock project will build a new chicken coop as part of an existing community garden on campus; chickens will provide eggs for students and families that participate in coop and garden maintenance.

HIGH SCHOOLS:

• Eastside Memorial High School’s Outdoor Erosion Solution will stop erosion in a campus common area and teach students about water conservation.

• The Huntington Surrey School’s Rainwater Collection project will capture rainwater from the school’s roof and channel it to an existing garden.

• The Autonomous Self Watering project at Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School will use remote sensors in the campus cisterns to help students understand water cycles.

• Hoping to reduce the number of plastic water bottles on campus, Crockett’s Bring Your Reusable Water Bottle project, will install four water bottle filling stations.

• NYOS hopes to create lifelong environmental stewards by developing and constructing new Outdoor Learning for All spaces on campus.

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