CHOCOWINITY — A local has school kicked off a new project this week that will visually compliment its campus.

Chocowinity Middle School received a $1,000 grant award through NC Beautiful, an environmental organization that focuses on preserving the physical beauty of North Carolina, to add landscaping to part of its campus, said Micki Warren, principal at CMS. The grant was written by Jim Wood, an eighth-grade math teacher at the school, who has written other grants for the school over the course of the year, Warren said.

“We’re excited,” Warren said. “This is like our seventh grant awarded this year. This is Jim’s second grant that he’s been awarded this year. He’s an asset in all ways, needless to say.”

Wednesday morning, Steve Vacendak, executive director of NC Beautiful, visited the school where he presented the grant check to Wood and Crystal Dixon, assistant principal at CMS.

Warren said the school has started a leadership program based on “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens,” by Sean Covey, and students, faculty and staff are learning and implementing the habits throughout the year. As part of the program, the school has initiated a variety of clubs for student participation. Each day for 25 minutes, students participate in “Tribe Pride,” a period of the day that students work on different projects and activities, and on Thursdays, Club Day, students report to their preferred club. One newly formed club, “Green Team,” will be responsible for the beautification project and students in the club have worked to create scale drawings and an implementation plan, Warren said.

“The biggest thing is how we’re working on the 7 Habits, and that’s just really why Jim did this — to build community partnerships and get the kids focused on being proactive and being better citizens by helping make the school a better place,” Warren said.

The team plans to landscape around the media center, which faces U.S. Highway 17. By planting shrubs along the media center and side of the building facing U.S. 17, the school hopes to provide a sound and visual barrier, Warren said.

“We’re hoping to put some bigger bushes so it cuts down on the noise level, as well as distractions,” Warren said. “We also want to add some color and help with erosion around our media center.”

So far, the “Green Team” has planted bulbs around the school sign, Warren said. The school has also received another small grant to build a raised-bed flower and vegetable garden for its Exceptional Children’s Program, which the team will also help build and design behind the school. Through the project, students learn drafting, landscaping design and plant knowledge, get a chance to enjoy the outdoors and are building new character traits, Warren said.

Warren said the school hopes to have the project complete by the end of the school year. Currently, with cold weather being an obstacle, the students are able to do little work, but once it warms up outside, the project will be in full swing. The school has also reached out to Southside High School’s FFA for aid in the project, Warren said.