Roy Hyatt Environmental Center To Use Impact Grant For Hands-On Learning Expansion

October 21, 2018

Visitors had a chance to check out the Escambia County School District’s Roy Hyatt Environmental Center in Cantonment during an open house on Saturday.  The center was recently named as a recipient of an IMPACT 100 grant for $100,300.

The RHEC will use the grant to enhance hands-on science education with three major additions. The grant will fund construction materials to transform an existing space into a “beach” classroom which will submerge students into an undersea world. They will “swim” with creatures found in habitats along the Gulf Coast while learning about amazing animals. The grant will also fund the purchase of an inflatable portable planetarium which will allow 60 students at a time to crawl into the dome launching them into a new world. As they blast off they will learn all about the mystery of outer space. The third part of the grant will fund construction materials to renovate an existing greenhouse into a “butterfly house” allowing students to “fly” with butterflies and immersing them into the butterfly’s fascinating environment. While fluttering alongside butterflies, students will explore and observe the life cycle of the  insects.

Annually, over 80 percent of the elementary schools in the district visit RHEC each year, along with home school groups, senior groups, garden clubs and more. Last school year, nearly 7,000 people visited.

For a photo gallery, click here.

Pictured: An open house event Saturday at the Roy Hyatt Environmental Center in Cantonment. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under FEATURE TOP STORY, Features, News