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Student Club Encourages Environmental Innovation
Students in the OC Life21 club , an after-school club that started earlier this year in Ocean City school district ’ s , are working on projects to help better their schools and community . Two intermediate students created ReCraft , a cell phone app that encourages students to recycle . The app is modeled after the game Minecraft , in which people build things with blocks , but the building materials must be earned through real-life recycling . They entered their idea in the southern regional STEAM Tank Challenge this spring , and will now advance to the finals in Atlanta this fall . Four high school students in the club proposed a 400-gallon aquaponics system . ( Two of the students already maintained a small aquaponics system in their environmental science class .) The system , which they proposed building in the school courtyard , would house 25 fish and grow between 100 and 150 plants . “ I could not be prouder as a principal , as a mom , as a part of the community of these individuals ,” Cathleen Smith , principal of the Ocean City Primary School , says .
- ocsentinel . com
Camden Students get $ 50K to Expand Urban Farming
Students at a charter school in Camden , NJ , received a first-hand lesson on how a green thumb can lead to a greener city . The LEAP Academy University Charter School received a $ 50,000 check from State Farm Insurance to expand an urban farming initiative designed to grow crops in planters on street corners near the school in downtown Camden . “ Camden is a food desert ,” says Karina Velez , a LEAP Academy senior who helped design the urban farming initiative . “ Our goal in the future is to have mini festivals where we can provide fresh produce . Because there ’ s not a lot of places in Camden where kids can get healthy food .” LEAP ’ s program — called From Food Desert to Food Forest — was developed by students to help address the issue of poor nutrition caused by widespread poverty in one of America ’ s poorest cities . Camden is considered a food desert by the USDA because just one supermarket serves the city of 77,000 where two out of every five people live below the poverty level .
- nj . com
Hydroponics Pilot Project to Expand Work Opportunities in Azraq Refugee Camp
In March , ACTED Jordan , with funding from the World Food Programme ( WFP ), began an innovative new pilot project in Azraq refugee camp : the installation of hydroponics systems to give refugees enhanced access to climate-smart agriculture trainings and livelihoods opportunities . The project will empower camp residents with the skills and hydroponic materials to sustainably produce fresh animal fodder to be sold to local farms , providing beneficiaries with new livelihood opportunities within the camp while simultaneously meeting demand of host communities for fresh fodder . Opened in April 2014 , Azraq camp is home to 54,000 Syrian refugees , most of whom subsist entirely on daily bread distributions and 20 dinar ( US $ 28 ) monthly food vouchers from WFP for use at the camp markets . Work opportunities are especially limited for those living in refugee camps , as leaving the camp to access job opportunities requires applying for both a leave permit and a work permit .
- reliefweb . int
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