Environmental Connections February 2013

Howard High School Graduates involved with this program

Recipient: Lookout Mountain Conservancy

The UNFoundation funded the Lookout Mountain Conservancy, an organization funded in 1991 with the mission to protect Lookout Mountain’s resources of scenic, historical, and ecological value through Conservancy, Advocacy, Recreation, and Education. The project we funded allows the organization to engage and partner with The Center for Mindful Living to provide an outdoor classroom experience for the students of The Howard School.

The program has two parts. First, Environmental Education, which teaches students about invasive plant and proper treatment, issues surrounding erosion, and restoration of land with native plants. Second, Personal Growth and Leadership Development, which gives students a medium to learn about themselves, their environment, and their classmates. Students are able to feel safe enough to develop skills to work with each other in an outdoor, non-violent environment. Connecting kids to the lands they live on has been a rewarding experience for this organization and the UNFoundation was excited to fund such a successful program.

The Musical Tree Quilt January 2013

Recipient: David & Yang Welch

David is a recent MIT alumni and Yang is an artist and design engineer. Together, David and Yang came to the UNFoundation and pitched an idea: a musical quilt that honors the flora of southeast Tennessee. They’ve combined traditional quilting methods with e-textiles and open-hardware embedded devices, creating a quilt that sings to the touch. They’re using their research to further their endeavors in e-textile crafting, open-source music, and research.

The project uses conductive and piezoresitive fabrics that ultimately comes together to create a unique instrument. The goal is to create a 4×3 feet quilt, composed of 4 panels, with each panel featuring a tree of special significance to the Southern Appalachians. They’ve organized a talk with a class of fifth graders and plan to present to other local schools as well.