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Blowing Rock School is Awarded the NC Schools Go Outside Grant

The NC Outdoor Heritage Advisory Council (OHAC) is pleased to award a North Carolina Schools Go Outside (GO) Grant to Blowing Rock School.

“Seventh-grade students from Blowing Rock School will be given the opportunity to participate in an overnight outdoor experience at Buffalo Cove Outdoor Education Center. Students will engage in activities involving hiking, camping and learning essential survival skills including fire making and shelter building. A requirement by the state for all seventh graders is to learn about homeostasis. Students will be able to apply this concept to a real-life experience by learning how to maintain homeostasis in an outdoor setting,” said Blowing Rock School teacher Liz Tincher.

The NC Outdoor Heritage Advisory Council established the NC Schools Go Outside (GO) Grants earlier this year. Go Grants are $250 to $2,500 grants that will be provided to access field study locations and assist with other expenditures that result from form taking students outdoors.

“I was thrilled to inform our Blowing Rock teachers, Ms. Liz Tincher and Ms. Martha Trimble, that they had been awarded a well-deserved GO Grant. These teachers’ initiative to apply for this grant will afford their students with a hands-on learning experience that I’m sure these kids will enjoy,” said Senator Deanna Ballard.

Qualifying for a GO Grant requires instructors to demonstrate how the experience will address topics currently being taught in class and furthers the Outdoor Heritage Advisory Council’s mission.

“We love awarding grants to schools that are taking students outdoors to learn and have experiences with outdoor activities for possibly the first time. We understand that funding is often the largest barrier to getting students outdoors, so we are pleased to be able to give $1,525 to Blowing Rock School to help offset some of the costs of their trip,” said OHAC Executive Director Justin Burr.

For more information about the grants or the NC Outdoor Heritage Advisory Council, contact Olivia Baumann at 984-222-9963 or olivia.baumann@nc.gov.