Print this story |
E-mail story |
Add a comment |
iPod friendly | Bookmark this
What is this?
Nature center lands grant, reduces students fees
Published Friday, November 27, 2009
The Jay C. Hormel Nature Center received a grant from the Hormel Foundation that reduces student fees for the nature center and will help the center meet the costs of its educational programs.
This new grant reduces fees to $1 for students in Mower County. Larry Dolphin, director of the Hormel Nature Center, said that could include students from schools in Hayfield, Blooming Prairie and Hollandale.
"The Hormel Foundation made a commitment to help subsidize the kids who come out here," Dolphin said.
The $28,968 grant will raise the overall revenue for the student programs to about $33,000 — essentially tripling the revenue the nature center receives for student programs.
The typical costs for students who use the nature center's programs are $3 for students in Austin, $4 for students in the county and $5 for students out of the county. Those fees have been fixed over the last decade.
Past student fees only equaled about $11,000, and Dolphin said that didn't cover the nature center's costs of the student programs. The foundation's grant is based on the nature center's costs for offering student programs.
"The cost is still there, but the Hormel Foundation is playing the role of taking over that cost," Dolphin said.
Dolphin hopes the change could attract more schools to the nature center. The grant reduces the city's tax dollars used toward operating the nature center, he said.
The nature center's student programs are mostly for students between kindergarten and fourth-grade, though some preschool and high school students also utilize the programs. Curriculum is different for each grade, with things like maple syrup tapping for fourth-graders.
Dolphin hopes this relationship between the nature center and the Hormel Foundation continues in future years.
The nature center also received $4,980 for repairs and maintenance on the Jacques Chipault Trail.
The Hormel Foundation's approved a total of $4.2 million in grants to local groups and foundations on Nov. 20.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE THIS STORY?
Comments
Post a comment (Terms of Use Policy)
(Requires free registration.)