2/9/2011 9:00:00 AMGrant of more than $195,000 announced to improve school readiness in Cleveland region
Cleveland, Ohio-- The PNC Foundation visited students and staff at Hannah Gibbons to announce a grant to Cleveland Metroparks to establish Eco Explorers powered by PNC Grow Up Great, a new program designed to help enhance environmental education for Cleveland preschoolers. The program will feature a mobile education vehicle, the “Eco Explorer,” that will visit underserved classrooms to promote an understanding of nature and science. The grant of more than $195,000 from the PNC Foundation will also create programs to teach lessons in sustainability at special events in Cuyahoga County.
Approximately 19,000 students, ages 3 to 6, in early education programs operated by Greater Cleveland Head Start and the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) will be served by the Eco Explorers powered by PNC Grow Up Great program over the course of the year. The 24-foot-long Eco Explorer mobile education vehicle is equipped with a computer-powered 50-inch touch LCD monitor and materials for environmental and science activities.
The vehicle will provide customized educational programming and hands-on activities, led by Cleveland Metroparks naturalists, which focus on environmental-based lessons that promote school readiness in nature and science, creative arts, fine and gross motor skills, problem solving, listening and speaking. Activities also cultivate awareness of sustainability through activities that encourage recycling, water and energy conservation, and crafts that support wildlife.
“The Eco Explorers powered by PNC Grow Up Great program will help inspire curiosity and a greater appreciation for nature and science for Cleveland-area children,” said PNC Regional President for Northern Ohio Paul Clark, speaking on behalf of the PNC Foundation. “The environmental stewardship lessons they learn today have the potential to influence healthier and stronger communities of tomorrow.”
For more information, please contact:
Charisse Ausbrook: 216.574.8143
Angela Buford Payne: 216.858.6994
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