The Trinity Lutheran Preschool was awarded an Early Childhood Health Outdoors Seed Grant from the Denver-based nonprofit Qualistar Colorado.
According to a news release, ECHO Seed Grant sites receive $5,000 in grant funds to use toward the creation of a naturalized outdoor learning environment, landscape design assistance and support, ongoing training and technical assistance.
Trinity Lutheran Preschool is one of 25 early childhood programs and publicly accessible Seed Grant Sites.
“The best part of our Seed Grant Sites is the geographic diversity we achieved,” Adrienne Sedlak, outdoor learning specialist and trainer at Qualistar said in a news release. “We awarded grants to sites in 12 different counties across the state impacting hundreds of children.”
According to Genevieve Vannest, the center director of the Trinity Lutheran Preschool, her organization found out at the beginning of June that they had received the $5,000 ECHO grant.
Vannest said that they would use the money, in addition to the $6,200 the school has already raised, to build a new playground.
“We are trying to make it a more natural and handicap accessible space for our 3- to 12-year-olds,” Vannest said.
Vannest said the school is working with Qualistar Colorado to build a design that will be unveiled in the fall.
“We started doing playground renovation for the past year, so this is why this is a big deal for the funding and design,” Vannest said.