Lind-Ritzville educators receive CF Industries Mini-grants

Dennis Schilling of CF Industries, Inc. awarded 10 teachers with mini-grants totaling $3,400 on Nov. 21 to help fund agricultural and environmental projects for the Lind and Ritzville School Districts.

The teachers apply for the CF Industries’ Classroom Mini-grant Program where the requests are reviewed and approved. The applications include statistics about how many students will be participating and the expected cost of the projects.

Through the program, students will learn and research the connection between apples and bees; gain practical experience in environmental science research techniques; research beef production in Washington, how it moves from farm to table; and explore the impact of mining and agriculture on the eagle population.

The teachers receiving mini-grants are Diane Leffel, Caitlin Jeske, Jennifer Verhey and January Pietila from Ritzville Grade School; Jason Sanger and Nick Weishaar from Lind-Ritzville Middle School; and Jason Aldrich, Andy Williams, Justin Palmer and Donna Koch from Lind-Ritzville High School.

Leffel and Jeske are receiving $600 to use for the kindergarten students to take a field trip to learn about apples at Walter’s Fruit Ranch. The 34 students will learn about apple, growth cycle, seasons, and how bees help pollinate the apple flowers.

Verhey and Pietila received $650 for third and fourth grade students to take a science-based field trip to Spokane. The students will discuss who the experience ties into the curriculum they learn throughout the year in the classroom, and the two classes are comprised of 64 students.

Receiving $600 for a seventh grade eagle watch cruise are teachers Sanger and Weishaar. The 31 students will learn about the historical and current impact of mining and agriculture on the eagle population during a trip to Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Aldrich received $500 for 20 high school STEM students to take a field trip to Mt. St. Helens. The STEM Club students will participate in a field trip to give them practical experience in environmental science research techniques and introduce them to professional opportunities in the field.

Williams and Palmer received a collective $700 to put towards CASE curriculum implementation for high school students. The CASE Curriculum is an agriculture-based education program that implements science and other core academics into agricultural classes.

High school students under the instruction of Koch can expect to participate in “Beef – It’s what’s for dinner” with the $350 donation. In the class, students will learn about beer production in Washington, how it’s processed from farm to table, recognize different cuts of beef and learn cooking techniques.

Since the inception of the program, CF Industries has provided more than $950,000 to teachers through the Classroom Mini-grant Program. The Ritzville Terminal alone has donated more than $87,000 to date to support public safety, education and youth development organizations in the greater Ritzville community.

“Our support of the Ritzville area teachers is one of my favorite ways to be active in our community,” said Schilling, Superintendent of CF Industries’ Ritzville Terminal. “The teachers always impress me with what they create for their students using CF Industries Classroom Mini-grants.”

CF Industries’ Ritzville Terminal has been a part of the Ritzville community since 1983. In 2016, the facility and its employees successfully completed more than 12,080 consecutive safe days without a lost time incident. The terminal continues to safely provide quality plant food nutrients to farm retailers and industrial customers in the region.

CF Industries is a global leader in fertilizer manufacturing and distribution, the second largest nitrogen fertilizer producer in the world. CF Industries owns and operates world-scale nitrogen plants and serves agricultural and industrial customers through its best-in-class distribution system.

To learn more about CF Industries, visit http://cfindustries.com.