STEM teachers inspiring tomorrow’s innovators
Tomorrow’s engineers and mathematicians need only a spark to get their imaginations – and their careers – headed in the right direction. Each year, the PPL Foundation honors outstanding STEM educators who provide that spark for their students.
Four teachers in eastern and central Pennsylvania were recently selected as recipients of the PPL Foundation’s 2023 STEM Educator Awards. This grant program recognizes teachers who have demonstrated success in designing and facilitating STEM learning that engages the next generation of innovative thinkers. The PPL Foundation has awarded $500,000 in grants through this program since 2003.
“Cover to Cover” adding opportunity to every child’s story
Numerous studies have shown that children who miss out on reading and learning opportunities over the summer can fall behind by as many as two grade levels. Providing books to those students over the summer helps close that gap.
Environmental Champions: Audubon is building bird-friendly communities, thanks to a PPL grant
Organization provides resources for all gardeners to make a difference in bird communities simply by choosing native plants.
Environmental Champions: Earth Conservancy restores land and transforms a community
Founded in 1992, the Earth Conservancy has been on a mission to reclaim nearly 16,500 acres of legacy mine lands in Luzerne County. The organization is not only focused on restoring land, but on enhancing the region’s economy and workforce through a program funded in part by a PPL Foundation grant.
Environmental Champions: The Merrill Linn Conservancy revives a popular nature area
PPL Foundation funding is helping to restore popular trail.
Environmental Champions: Wildlife Leadership Academy
Funding from the PPL Foundation helps this organization teach youth to become future conservation ambassadors.
Conservation lessons flow through hands-on learning at Waterdale Environmental Education Center
The wonder of a sleeping doe. The thrill of discovering a squiggly bug dwelling in a creek. The quiet excitement of observing a woodpecker on a nature trail. These are just some of the amazing discoveries students find at the Waterdale Environmental Education Center. Watch as 100 4th graders are delighted by their day in nature.
Lacawac Sanctuary awakens the love of nature for students, community
Maybe it’s the quiet energy of the forest, or the song of the golden-winged warbler, or even the stillness of the pristine 52-acre glacial lake that appeals to the hundreds of visitors who come to Lacawac Sanctuary each year. No matter why they come, all visitors leave with a profound appreciation for nature and all its wonder.
Park revitalization brings a community together
The shrieks from kids racing down the slide, the laughter of grandparents playing with their grandchildren, the crack of a bat connecting with a fastball as the crowd cheers. These are the sounds that echo throughout Veterans Memorial Park in Newport, Pennsylvania. Just a couple of years ago, this park wasn’t so lively.
Farming project cultivates young leaders
For many kids, summer vacation is a chance to kick back, relax and take a break. For the youths who spend their summer working at the LEAF Project, this is their time to get up early, work hard and bloom into the leaders of tomorrow.