Mississippi Recycling Coalition Announces 2018-2019 Mississippi School Grant Award Recipients

Jackson, MS – The Mississippi Recycling Coalition (MRC) is pleased to announce the award of nine Mississippi School Recycling Grants for 2018-2019 School Year to schools in Starkville, Canton, Oxford, Natchez, New Albany, Ecru, Hattiesburg and Tishomingo.

These grants are offered to all public and private schools teaching grade K-12 students in the State of Mississippi. The awards include a $500 or $1,000 cash award and a complimentary 1-year membership to the Coalition for each school.  A panel of MRC members evaluated each school grant application received based on the reuse, recycling and composting components of the program; the amount of student leadership and student participation in the recycling program; the emphasis on educating students on the benefits of recycling; and the community involvement, participation, and outreach components of the program. Other components considered included the creativity, technical design, sustainability, and maximization of resources within the program.

MRC is pleased to announce school recycling grant awards this year to nine deserving schools in the state. The schools receiving grant awards from MRC are as follows:

  • Armstrong Middle School in Starkville is awarded a grant to expand the current recycling program at the school. The school will be working with Keep Starkville Beautiful and the Seventh Grade Carnation Patrol from Girl Scout Troop 20320 to organize the collection system at the school and increase outreach and education efforts.   The school plans to use the grant funds to purchase additional recycling bins and liner bags to be used in high traffic areas. Armstrong and partners plan to continue and increase the collection of cardboard and paper and will begin collecting plastic and aluminum beverage containers.
  • Canton High School in Canton is awarded a grant to help support their recently launched school recycling program. Canton High will be working with Keep Canton Beautiful to further promote the program among students, faculty and staff and track program progress. The grant funds will be used to purchase recycling bins which will be distributed to key locations throughout the school. The school will use the remaining funds on additional activities and incentives designed to increase interest and encourage student and staff participation in the recycling program. The school will continue to collect aluminum, plastics, and paper and paper goods.
  • Henderson Ward Stewart Elementary School in Starkville is awarded a grant to expand the current recycling program at the school. The school will be working with Keep Starkville Beautiful and the Third Grade Unicorn Patrol from Girl Scout Troop 20320 to improve the recycling program by increasing collection efforts and providing education and incentives to students, faculty and staff to encourage involvement in the program. The school plans to use the grant funds to purchase additional recycling bins and liner bags to be used in high traffic areas. Henderson Ward Stewart School and partners plan to continue and increase the collection of cardboard and paper and will begin collecting plastic and aluminum beverage containers.
  • Lafayette Middle School in Oxford is awarded a grant to enhance their current recycling program. The school’s Recycle Team and the QUEST! (gifted program) students will lead efforts to increase collection in both the classrooms and lunch areas. The grant funds will be used to purchase recycling carts and bins to help make collection of materials easier and more efficient. In addition, some funds will be used for additional flyers to help educate and promote the recycling program to students, faculty and staff. The school plans to continue recycling paper, cardboard, plastics and cans.
  • Natchez Early College at Co-Lin in Natchez is awarded a grant to expand the current recycling efforts on the Natchez campus of Copiah-Lincoln Community College. This project is led by the Sigma Iota Pi organization, a girls club consisting of high school students participating in the Natchez Early College Program. The grant funds will be used to purchase recycling bin stations; display banners and additional supplies for handouts, flyers and signage. The goal of this project is to increase the amount of materials collected through promotion of the recycling program and education of the students, faculty and staff on which items are accepted for recycling; which items are not and when materials are picked up by the contractor. The ladies of Sigma Iota Pi plan to continue collecting cans, paper and plastics on the Natchez campus.
  • New Albany Elementary School in New Albany is awarded a grant to expand the current program. New Albany Elementary received a previous grant award from MRC to help support the “Recycle Wednesdays” program and has since formed a partnership with the City of New Albany and others to purchase additional collection equipment including a six unit recycling trailer and indoor recycling bins. The new grant funds will be used to purchase additional bins allowing for increased collection in outside play areas and the collection of cardboard in addition to the paper and plastics currently collected for recycling. The school plans to continue its ongoing outreach and education efforts to students, faculty, staff and the community at large.
  • North Pontotoc Elementary School in Ecru is awarded a grant to increase their current recycling efforts. The school’s Science Club students, reading coach teachers, Parent Teacher Organization and others will continue to lead the recycling program which at present collects aluminum cans and uses the money raised recycling these cans to help local needy families. The grant funds will be used to purchase bins which will enable the school to collect more cans and begin collecting plastic bottles. Some funds will also be used to buy materials such as posters and bin labels to help promote the program and provide direction on which materials are to be placed in the bins.
  • Sacred Heart Catholic School in Hattiesburg is awarded a grant to build on their existing recycling program. Sacred Heart in partnership with the City of Hattiesburg has been recycling for several years; collecting plastic, metals, paper and cardboard from both the elementary and high school campuses as well as the church. The program has been so successful that the school has been able to reduce garbage collection from 4 times a week to twice a week. In addition, students and faculty across all campuses develop and participate in a variety of activities such as “Dress in Recycled Clothing Day” and poster contests. These projects are designed to educate the students on the benefits of recycling and promote the school program. The grant funds will be used to provide additional education at the school in the form of new recycling and environmental books. These books will be available for check out in the school libraries and teachers will be encouraged to incorporate sample lesson plans including these new titles in their classrooms. In addition, supplies will be purchased to be used in an associated recycling poster contest.
  • Tishomingo Middle School in Tishomingo is awarded a grant to start a new recycling program. The school’s GEM (gifted program) students and teachers will lead efforts on collecting and organizing materials and educating students on the importance of recycling and how to properly recycle at the school. Additional school faculty and staff will support these efforts as well as provide transportation of the collected materials for recycling. The grant funds will be used to purchase recycling bins to be distributed throughout the school campus and supplies for posters, flyers, and other items designed to promote the program and educate students, faculty and staff. Tishomingo Middle School will collect aluminum, steel and plastics as part of their new program.

The MRC congratulates these schools on their fine efforts to start and expand recycling on their campuses and in their communities. We are excited to see the interest in growing recycling in our state. The Coalition looks forward to following the progress of each of these schools during the remainder of this school year and into the next. The MRC invites other interested schools to apply for the school recycling grants in the next school year. Typically, applications for the Mississippi School Recycling Grants are solicited and accepted in the Fall of each school year. Interested educators and staff may follow the announcements on the MRC web site to determine the next round of grant awards at: http://www.msrecycles.org/ or through one of our social media outlets.

The Mississippi Recycling Coalition is a consortium of recycling companies, local governments, state and federal agencies, trade associations, manufacturers, and other organizations interested in promoting recycling, reuse, waste reduction, and composting in Mississippi. For more information on the MRC and its programs, please visit the Coalition’s web site listed above.

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