$500,000 more for Jonathan Grant
Jonathan Grant High School in Spanish Town, St Catherine, recently won half a million dollars for having sustained its eco-smart greenhouse, the construction of which incorporated plastic bottles and featured a fully integrated aquaponics system.
The school, which tied with Ewarton High for first place at the end of the WATA Sustainability Competition in June last year and received $750,000 for the win, said it will use some of the additional funds to further enhance the greenhouse project.
“We’re very elated that our students were able to maintain the project and we are looking forward to expanding it even further,” senior teacher and project head Lisa Powell-Brown said at the cheque presentation two weeks ago.
“I thank WATA for recognising the hard work of our students and we will definitely use a portion of the earnings to enhance the project,” she added.
Already, the students have harvested crops such as lemon grass, mint, peppers and basil — most of which are used to supply the school canteen. But according to Powell-Brown, there are plans to eventually sell to the wider community. The greenhouse also has ornamental plants.
WATA is a brand of bottled water disctributed by Wisynco Group Limited.
“We’d like to applaud the students and teachers of Jonathan Grant for not only constructing such an amazing and impactful project, but for sustaining it over the period,” commented Shelly-Ann Dunkley, environment communication officer at WISYNCO. “It is very heartwarming to see how involved the students are in the project and how excited they are to be a part of preserving our environment.”
The competition is one of several initiatives the group is pushing to promote environmental preservation. Others include the WISYNCO Eco Club recycling campaign, diverse plastic bottle drives, and a recycling partnership that pays for the return of plastic bottles.