Four Annandale Schools Receive Education Grants from Dominion Virginia Power

Four Annandale-area schools have been awarded educational grants totaling $80,000 from the Dominion Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Dominion Resources Services, Inc. 

The schools, Canterbury Woods Elementary School, Belvedere Elementary School, Northern Virginia Community College, and George Mason University, were one of 10 educational institutions to receive grants. The money will fund educational and environmental program initiatives at the schools.

The grants were awarded last month at a luncheon at Dominion Virginia Power's Lincoln Park facility in Herndon.

Each of the schools received the following grants:

Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale was awarded $30,000 to develop a sustainable practices zone on campus containing rain gardens, a cistern, the use of solar energy and educational signage to teach the positive impacts of these practices on the Accotink Creek Watershed.

Canterbury Woods Elementary School in Annandale was awarded $3,500 to create an outdoor classroom and science lab. Students will study the life cycles of seeds and monarch butterflies, life process and animal interaction of plants, and composting. Students will also construct an edible garden.

Belvedere Elementary School in Falls Church was awarded $1,500 create a school-wide seedling nursery to connect education with ecological restoration and community service. Students will learn about life-cycles, habitats and ecosystem functions while practicing skills like measurement, computation and identification.

George Mason University in Fairfax was awarded $45,000 for a mobile extreme weather unit which allows students to collect and study data in the path of severe storms. The mobile unit will provide on-the-ground data on flooding and weather conditions allowing students to study infrastructure at risk in the path of storms.