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Health & Fitness

Anacostia Watershed Society and Coca-Cola Partner to Provide Third Grade Students with Hands-On Environmental Educational Opportunity

Seaton Elementary School Students and Volunteers from Coca-Cola Constructed Wetlands Project in School Garden 

Bladensburg, MD - The Anacostia Watershed Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to cleaning the water, recovering the shoreline, and honoring the heritage of the Anacostia River and its watershed communities, spent the afternoon of Monday, November 18th with third grade students from Seaton Elementary School to educate them on environmental issues and aid the students in constructing a wetland area in their school’s garden. Volunteers from Coca-Cola were on site to help the students as part of their recent commitment to support Anacostia Watershed Society’s education and outdoor recreation objectives.

 

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During the afternoon’s activities, Coca-Cola volunteers and Seaton students built a conservation garden using native plants and local stone, and created a functioning wetland/rain garden. The project site was a garden within the school yard which the students have access to for hands-on learning about the environment. The space is home to raised beds, an outdoor classroom area, and a miniature wetland/dry streambed. This project broadened the garden area to include a conservation landscape and wetland/rain garden. Seaton Elementary School is also planning a larger scale bioretention project in the future to lessen stormwater runoff from the school’s large, paved areas.

 

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“Working in Seaton Elementary School’s garden provided our volunteers with a uniquely inspirational and rewarding opportunity to work first-hand with – and learn from – the District of Columbia’s next generation of environmental stewards,” said Curtis Etherly, Director of Public Affairs and Communications, The Coca-Cola Company. “At Coca-Cola, we have a longstanding tradition of bringing young people together with healthy outdoor activities that engage them in the world around them.  We look forward to these and other ongoing efforts with the Anacostia Watershed Society aimed at improving the health of the Anacostia River Watershed and the great communities that call it home.”

 

This project with Seaton Elementary School is part of a larger initiative by the Anacostia Watershed Society’s Environmental Education & Outdoor Recreation programs. Their goal is to engage underserved students from the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area in outdoor recreation and hands-on environmental education projects that increase student interest and academic achievement and empower them to become environmental stewards. The Coca-Cola Company Foundation is supporting these efforts through a $25,000 grant made in the summer of 2013, and support for various educational and outdoor recreation objectives.

 

“We are so thankful for supporters like The Coca-Cola Company whose donations allow us to continue reaching out to students in the community for events like our wetlands construction project with Seaton Elementary School,” said Ariel Trahan, Manager of Environmental Education, Anacostia Watershed Society. “Our programs are designed to increase student interest and academic skills while instilling an attitude of environmental responsibility, a task that could not be completed without the support of The Coca-Cola Company.” 

 

The Coca-Cola Company Foundation’s grant will support the connection between healthy outdoor activities, the environment, and youth through this and other collaborative efforts.  The Coca-Cola Company recognizes that protecting and preserving the Anacostia River and other watersheds requires the engagement of our entire community – business, government, nonprofits and community-based stakeholders.  For the recent project at Seaton Elementary School, additional collaborative parties included the District Department of the Environment, Department of General Services and District of Columbia Public Schools.
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