Environmental Stewardship and Community Prosperity
The Bionomic Educational Training Center (BETC) is a workforce development training program at Southern High School that addresses water quality via stormwater retrofit design and implementation. This program teaches students with learning disabilities real world job training. It has helped students like Edward Young to turn their lives around and learn skills needed to succeed in society.
Since its inception, the Southern BETC program has resulted in the installation of 21 rain gardens, one riparian buffer and one critical area planting for Durham landowners, earning approximately $11,000 through plant sales. This funding helps to sustain the program and to provide students with community service hours that they need in order to graduate. The program also gives students a chance to put their hands in the soil and learn a new skill: gardening.
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Protect our environment through planned growth, conservation, preservation, enhancement and restoration of our natural and built resources
Objectives:
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Increase energy efficiency
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Increase use of environmentally preferred transportation options
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Improve water quality
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Change behaviors to achieve environmental quality
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Protect open space and preserve rural character
