A $500 grant from the N.C. Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts’ Auxiliary will mean some hands-on science for students of Hayley Cox and Noal Castater, both teachers in Haywood County. 

Cox, a fourth-grade teacher at Junaluska Elementary School, plans to use the money for water testing kits, hands-on activities, books and magazine subscriptions. 

Castater, an agriculture teacher at Waynesville Middle School, has already used grant funding to teach his students about hydroponics — a soilless method of growing plants — and will use the $500 to expand his system by snaking 30 feet of PVC pipe on a greenhouse wall for a vertical garden. Students will drill holes in the pipe and maintain the system to grow up to 320 plants. When harvest time comes, students will learn about sales and marketing as they sell the herbs and lettuce. 

Grants go to projects that enhance learning, using conservation and environmental practices. Applications are already open for next year, for which the deadline is Dec. 1. 

Gail Heathman, 828.452.2741 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..