Discovery Education and the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) announced today the Grand Prize winner and two runners up of the ‘Spruce Up Your School’ sweepstakes. The national sweepstakes is part of the TurfMutt program, a dynamic digital curriculum designed to encourage kids to protect the environment around them and foster appreciation of green space in their own communities.
Ms. Mary Anne Arabia’s fifth grade class from Palomar Elementary School in Chula Vista, Calif., has been named the Grand Prize winner and will receive a $5,000 grant to create and build more green space around school grounds and play areas. Ms. Arabia entered the TurfMutt sweepstakes because her school playground lacked sufficient shade, and to help spark science and environmental curiosity through hands-on learning.
The sweepstakes’ two runners up are Ms. Elizabeth Paz from Big Hollow Elementary School in Ingleside, Ill., and Ms. Trish Kubitza from Hallsburg Elementary School in Waco, Texas. Students in these two winning classrooms will receive TurfMutt-branded “Green Packs” that contain eco-friendly school supplies, including a backpack, lunch bag, colored pencils, a water bottle and a seeded bookmark.
Lesson plans can be found at: http://turfmutt.discoveryeducation.com/educators.cfm.
