CACC Students Win $20,000 Community Service Grant

Energetic, enthusiastic and eco-sensitive high school students in the Geographic Information Science (GIS) program have won a $20,000 SkillsUSA/Lowe’s 2015 community Service Grant! Students from multiple disciplines have joined forces to creatively prepare solutions for existing challenges at Columbia Area Career Center. A self-sustaining watering system will capture rainwater from the roof of the building and will supply necessary water for the Culinary Arts garden. A rain garden will be created for water overflow and a new walkway on the north side of the building will be installed. GIS students chose this project to improve their school community.

According to Jeff Homes of Lowe’s in Columbia, “the self-sustaining watering system sounds like a great addition to the campus. We certainly support ideas that will assist the students as well as being eco-friendly.”

Members of the Columbia Area Career Center SkillsUSA chapter are putting their technological expertise to work. Students from Marketing, Construction Technology, Agriculture, Geospatial Information Science, Civil Engineering, Computer Aided Design, Culinary Arts, and Broadcast Journalism are responsible for planning, organizing and implementing all aspects of this project. From creating blueprints, preparing 3-D drawings to building, maintaining and managing the gardens, these students have shown that “a lesson in solving real world problems can begin with our own campus” said Laura Estabrooks, Project Advisor.

Columbia Area Career Center, part of Columbia Public Schools, provides career and technical training to high school students throughout Boone County (public, private and home schools) and adult career training and enrichment classes.