Ribbon-Cutting March 18 for River District Chicken Tractor

The Chicken Tractor by Rooster Hill Farms

You are invited to join us at 11 a.m. Monday, March 18, for the debut of the Catawba River District Chicken Tractor – a mobile learning laboratory featuring chickens!

• What: Join CMS Board Chair Mary McCray in the ribbon cutting for the Schoolyard Gardens Chicken Tractor, a mobile learning center featuring egg-laying hens from Rooster Hill Farms.

• Where: Whitewater Middle School, 1520 Belmeade Drive, Charlotte, N.C. 28216

• When: Ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11 a.m. Monday, March 18; schoolyard garden tours 10-11 a.m. at adjacent Whitewater Academy.

• Contact: Edna Chirico, Echirico@catawbariverdistrict.org or 704-562-8847

Learn about this exciting new program to connect hands-on learning, STEM skills, and local farming to our schools in the Catawba River District. See the Henpen Chicken Tractor in action and meet its developer, Randy Klocke of Rooster Hill Farms. Come early to tour the schoolyard gardens at adjacent Whitewater Academy and meet River District schoolyard gardens coordinator Jeffie Hardin of Rivendell Farms.

Background

The Catawba River District, a regional nonprofit group dedicated to supporting education as a crucial step in nurturing sustainable communities along the Catawba, is partnering with Rooster Hill Farms to provide local schools regular access to the Chicken Tractor mobile chicken coop. The River District is making this Chicken Tractor available for use by our 11 schools in our regional partnership to support education, food awareness, health and wellness, and sustainability. The Chicken Tractor will enhance our schoolyard garden experience.

What is the coop? – The Chicken Tractor, sold by Rooster Hill Farms, is a mobile backyard chicken coop that meets or exceeds city regulations and codes for urban chickens. The coop comes with several Golden Comet laying hens. These brown chickens are known for their compact size, egg production and friendly nature.

How will schools use it? - The chicken tractor will provide many learning opportunities as students observe the hens, learn about and even taste their eggs, and witness the impact of nitrogen-rich chicken manure on the grass under the coop. Schools will host the River District Chicken Tractor on a weekly basis. Staff members will receive training on how to care for the chickens.

About Rooster Hill Farms

Randy and Cynthia Klocke own Rooster Hill Farms in Enochville, in southern Rowan County. Rooster Hill Farms provides all the locally grown eggs to Healthy Home Markets in Charlotte and The Bradford Store in Huntersville. Randy is the designer and builder of the Henpen Chicken Tractor. Rooster Hill Farms is donating a Chicken Tractor to the River District. Http://www.roosterhillfarms.net.

About the Catawba River District

The Catawba River District is a regional, non-profit organization dedicated to sustainable development and enhancement of a 16,000-acre area including parts of Mount Holly, Belmont, northwest Charlotte, and the region’s watershed. The River District has been described as a national model for public-private cooperation. Supporters range from universities, schools and businesses to environmental advocates and municipalities. Partners share a commitment to elevating the River District through sustainable education, community development, and health and wellness programs.
http://www.catawbariverdistrict.org.

5 schools help launch our Eco-Footprint Challenge

Website and project videos coming by March 20; Projects start April 8

MARCH 5 – Let the green thinking begin! Five Gaston and Mecklenburg public schools have accepted the Eco-Footprint Challenge to reduce their impact on the environment.

The winning schools in this friendly competition will receive awards in late May, but everyone who takes part will benefit in this STEM-focused effort to make learning these skills both relevant AND fun.

Our schools and projects

The five participating schools and their projects are:

• Catawba Heights Elementary School – Composting food waste to benefit the school’s vegetable gardens with the support of Gaston Cooperative Extension.
• Mountain Island Charter School – Creating a student-run information campaign to reduce the use of disposable materials in student lunches.
• Rankin Elementary School – Weighing and composting food waste to benefit the school’s vegetable gardens.
• River Oaks Academy – Reducing the school’s use of electricity.
• Whitewater Academy – Using a worm farm (vermiculture) to compost food waste for the school gardens.

What is the Eco-Footprint Challenge?

The Catawba River District has developed the Eco-Footprint Challenge with support from the Piedmont Natural Gas Foundation. The Challenge enables students and teachers to devise ways to shrink their building’s eco-footprint – its impact on the environment as measured by the energy and water consumed and wastes generated to operate the facility. Along the way, students will learn new science, technology, engineering and math skills.

The Piedmont Natural Gas Foundation awarded a $50,000 grant to the River District in February to develop an Eco-Footprint model for the 11 public schools serving our students and to give these schools the opportunity to take part in the Eco-Footprint Challenge.

Next steps

• March 15 –Schools will develop their ideas into action plans by March 15 and create short videos to explain their ideas.
• March 20 – Students, teachers, parents and the community can track the progress of the Eco-Footprint Challenge on our new website, schoolecochallenge.org, and linked on-line video, photo and blog channels. The site will go live by March 20.
• April 8 – Students will begin carrying out their projects and recording results. Schools will report that data for six weeks beginning Wednesday, April 10. We will post weekly results each Friday on schoolecochallenge.org starting April. 12.
• April 8-22– Judges will visit the five schools during the statewide NC STEM Science Festival to see the projects in action. We will videotape each team’s brief presentation to the judges and post those videos on our web and video sites.
• And the winners are! May 20 – We will announce the winners of the 2013 Eco-Footprint Challenge and present their awards.

Why have an Eco-Footprint Challenge?

STEM learning is a critical component of the Catawba River District’s work in advancing sustainable solutions for the 16,000-acre cluster of communities that make up the River District, including northwest Charlotte, Mount Holly, and Belmont. 

The Eco-Footprint Challenge will engage many students from families that are economically challenged and have limited opportunities to engage in STEM learning beyond their schools. Educators say that students with strong STEM skills by middle school are much more likely to pursue advanced education in science, technology, engineering and math. Many of the best-paying jobs in the global economy require those skills, as well. STEM experts within Charlotte-Mecklenburg and Gaston school districts have been advising the River District’s leaders on STEM learning projects for the past two years.

The Piedmont Natural Gas Foundation issued a grant making the Challenge possible as part of the foundation’s community enrichment initiative and its emphasis on STEM education.   

Strategic Partners supporting the Challenge

The River District’s strategic partners, Piedmont National Gas, Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville and Huber Technology, are helping stage the Eco-Footprint Challenge with expertise and volunteers as well as resources.

The Piedmont Natural Gas Eco-Footprint Challenge is a recognized component of the NC STEM Science Festival produced by the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center at UNC-Chapel Hill. This is the second year the Catawba River District’s school partnership has participated in the NC STEM Science Festival. 

Learn more about the Eco-Footprint Challenge

For additional information or to provide additional financial support please contact 
River District Executive Director Edna Chirico at echirico@catawbariverdistrict.org or 704-562-8847.

About Piedmont Natural Gas Foundation

The Piedmont Natural Gas Foundation supports nonprofit organizations throughout its service area and has invested more than $6 million since the foundation’s start in 2004. The foundation provides support in a few key areas, including environmental stewardship, energy sustainability, workforce development and K-12 learning focused on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education.

Within the STEM education focus, the foundation seeks to develop high-quality leadership in schools and classrooms, plus programs that help students develop science, technology, engineering and math skills “critical to success in a global economy.”

• Learn more at http://piedmontng.com/ourcommunity/ourfoundation.aspx

About the Catawba River District

The Catawba River District is a regional, non-profit organization dedicated to sustainable development and enhancement of a 16,000-acre area including parts of Mount Holly, Belmont, northwest Charlotte, and the region’s watershed.  The River District has been described as a national model for public-private cooperation.  Supporters range from universities, schools and businesses to environmental advocates and municipalities.  Partners share a commitment to elevating the River District through sustainable education, community development, and health and wellness programs.

• Learn more at www.catawbariverdistrict.org.