Posted by: Hanna_Alldrin on 11/21/2008 12:19 PM
Updated by: Kim_Hamilton on 11/22/2008 10:56 AM
Expires: 01/01/2013 12:00 AM
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Mark Twain and Copperopolis Elementary Schools Were Awarded The California Integrated Waste Management Board Grant ~By Hanna Alldrin
Angels Camp, CA.....On April 1st, 2008 Mark Twain Elementary School was awarded a $99,515.00 grant from the California Integrated Waste Management Board. The Board promotes a Zero Waste California in partnership with local government, industry, and the public. This means managing the estimated 92 million tons of waste generated each year by reducing waste whenever possible, promoting the management of all materials to their highest and best use, regulating the handling, processing and disposal of solid waste, and protecting public health and safety and the environment.....
   
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Because the grant was a tire derived product grant program the schools had to use the money on recycled products. Over the summer Mark Twain put in over 210,00 pounds of rubber bark in their jungle-gym area replacing the existing wood chips. The bark alone was made up of 17,500 recycled tires.
During the first week of October Mark Twain resurfaced their existing track. In 1988 Mark Twain surfaced their first track that was previously sand and dirt, making the existing track over twenty years old. The track took 70,000 pounds of recycled tires, equaling 5,808 recycled tires that go through a seven step process that is healthy for the environment.
The grant paid for the product but the school was in charge of finding installation of the track and bark. The bark was put in by the local conservation camp and the track was installed by Atlas Track from Oregon. Atlas originally installed the first track in 1988.
The total cost of the project cost over $150,000. The school district only had to pay $25,000 thanks to the grant. "There is NO WAY this project could have been done with out the grant," shared Noreen Kenny, Director of Business Services at Mark Twain Elementary.
A project is proposed for Copperopolis Elementary to receive new campus drinking fountains, basketball hoops, and long jump pits. This project will be funded by Prop 40 funds, which must go to community and school recreation. This project is still being finalized by the school district.
"Since the budget crunch in California we have become more aggressive looking for grant," shared Noreen Kenny.
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