GREENVILLE –Employees from Monsanto Company recommended the DeColores Montessori School to receive a $10,000 grant from the Monsanto Fund’s 2016 site grant initiative. Funds from the grant will be used to renovate an existing structure at the DeColores Montessori Farm School into a high tech STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Fab Lab.
“We, at DeColores Montessori, are grateful to the Monsanto Fund and are very excited to take the first steps in creating a STEM ‘Fab Lab’ that will equip our school with tools to enhance students’ abilities to be innovators and problem solvers,” said Sharon Vanden Bosch, assistant principal at DeColores Montessori School. “Our school has provided Darke County and the surrounding area with 30 years of quality education. The development of the STEM ‘Fab Lab’ complements our “hands-on” approach to learning, and we feel that this technology will provide tremendous opportunities for growth and development which will serve not only our students and school, but also the whole community. ”
“Monsanto encourages the furthering of education locally in agriculture and STEM related courses and training. The Montessori Farm School Lab will enhance this training for students from the local community,” said Matt Garber, site lead at Greenville. “We’re happy to support the DeColores Montessori School with this Monsanto Fund grant.”
This year, the Monsanto Fund awarded more than $1.4 million to nonprofit organizations through its site grant initiative to help address essential needs in rural communities. Nonprofit organizations across the U.S. have received more than $7.5 million through this program over the last five years.
At DeColores Montessori, officials are committed to helping each child develop attitudes of self-motivation, self-confidence, inner discipline, respect for others, and love of learning. This is accomplished through the use of Montessori materials and philosophy, ungraded classrooms, individualized instruction, and freedom within limits.
Montessori’s goals are for students to be open-minded and compassionate; to gain a sense of themselves and others, and to understand and appreciate the diversity of the human spirit. Students are well-trained in the basic academic disciplines, while fulfilling their creative, physical, emotional, social, and cognitive potential.
The Monsanto Fund, the philanthropic arm of the Monsanto Company, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening the communities where farmers and Monsanto Company employees live and work. Visit the Monsanto Fund at www.monsantofund.org.
