KEA awards $2,800 to four local schools

Kootenai Environmental Alliance recently awarded $2,800 in Environmental Education Grants to four area schools.

Ramsey Magnet School of Science received $300 to assist with the "Release the Fry" program, through which second-graders raise rainbow trout from eggs. The students monitor water quality and ensure the fish are fed and healthy. The fish will be released into their natural habitat at the end of the school year. The grant funds will be used for buses on this field trip.

Lake City High School's environmental education program received $500 to give about 80 11th-graders the opportunity to float the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River. Water quality scientists will help them monitor water quality of the river as well as discuss with them riparian restoration efforts along the shoreline. This is LCHS' third year receiving a grant from KEA.

Timberlake High School was awarded $1,000 to test water quality of Spirit Lake with water monitoring kits. They'll test at three different sites and will finish the project with a scientific write-up of the results.

Finally, Post Falls High School received $1,000 to be used for the school's Chemistry in the Community Field Day. Local professionals will set up stations to teach different aspects of water quality data collection and analysis. Students will assess shoreline and mid-lake/river water samples for quality, biological indicators and point source pollution to analyze the overall environmental health.

KEA awards the Environmental Education Grant to one of several schools that apply each year. This year, four were made possible with the help of the cities of Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene, Ray and Jane Morgan and Doma Coffee.