A $68,725 grant is helping bring social studies even closer to life for students at Aspen Heights Elementary School.
The school’s MicroSociety program recently received the hefty grant from the Youth Advisory Board of State Farm.
In the MicroSociety the school is run like a country with an elected government where students run banks, businesses, police, postal services and other businesses.
Milton Williams, MicroSociety co-ordinator, said this boost will help the set up the society for future endeavours
“It gives us a lot of potential because we’re a small school,” said Williams.
“It is an awesome opportunity for a small school like ours to really get our MicroSociety off to a good start and really provide the kids with some real life experiences. We can use technology now that gets used in real businesses.”
Williams said the money will be used to purchase new technology including iPads and iPods and supplies for each venture.
Part of the grant will also be used for professional development. As well there are plans to link the students with actual businesses for hands-on experience.
Williams said before the students were restricted to staying within the school’s walls.
He said this grant will allow students to visit businesses and perhaps set goals after seeing an actual business in action.
Aspen Heights’ MicroSociety is one of 64 community organizations to receive the youth-led service learning grant across North America.
The advisory board has granted more than $20.7 million in grant money since 2006.
— copyright Red Deer Advocate