Students and teachers in seven schools will build solar panel systems, assemble fuel-cell car kits and study the health of local streams – thanks in part to grants from PPL Montana.
The schools will receive a combined total of more than $10,300 to support earth science education as part of PPL Montana’s Project Earth Environmental Education Grants program.
“As a company that emphasizes environmental awareness in our daily operations, PPL Montana is proud to support these educational projects,” said Lisa Perry, community affairs manager for PPL Montana. “We hope these creative projects inspire a future generation of environmental stewards.”
Grant recipients include:
- Dawson County High School, Glendive. Students from several classes will refurbish a water fountain in the school courtyard, including building two solar panels and wiring them to submersible pumps.
- DeSmet Middle School, Missoula. Twenty-eight students in seventh and eighth grade will take a three-day field trip to the Big Creek Outdoor Center to learn about the Crown of the Continent ecosystem. The grant will pay for transportation.
- Fairfield School District, Fairfield. Ten fuel-cell car kits will be purchased, enabling elementary and middle school students to learn about alternative energy.
- Helena High School, Helena. Students will conduct water quality tests and collect data at Prickly Pear Creek. A water expert from the state Department of Environmental Quality will accompany them.
- Hyalite Elementary School, Bozeman. Students will transform an existing outdoor amphitheater into a Lewis & Clark-themed learning site featuring native trees, shrubs and grasses. The transformation will also reduce the amount of water used to maintain the site.
- Sacajawea Middle School, Bozeman. Students will buy a lab kit and study water quality in Bozeman Creek and the Missouri River.
- Wisdom Public School, Wisdom. The grant will pay transportation costs for students to participate in the Big Hole River Foundation’s Watershed Education Program.
PPL Montana’s Project Earth Environmental Education Grants program provides funding of up to $1,500 for school projects that focus on issues such as watersheds and wetlands, air quality, renewable resources and energy conservation. Environmental education programs for teachers are also eligible.
The projects enhance established classroom curricula and academic standards, or support extracurricular activities of school organizations and clubs. A team of teachers, environmental professionals and PPL employees chose the winning projects.
Since 2005, PPL has given Project Earth awards worth more than $60,000 to schools in Montana.
PPL sponsors the grant program as part of PPL Project Earth, an initiative to educate the public about energy resources and the environment. For more information, visit our Web site, www.pplmontana.com, and read about our Education Grants under the Community Section.
PPL Montana provides safe, reliable energy from coal-fired power plants at Colstrip and Billings, as well as 11 hydroelectric plants along West Rosebud Creek and the Missouri, Madison, Clark Fork and Flathead rivers. It has a combined generating capacity of more than 1,200 megawatts and has offices in Billings, Butte and Helena. PPL Montana and its 500 employees are dedicated to Montana and its communities, supporting educational, environmental and economic development programs across the state. PPL EnergyPlus operates a trading floor in Butte that markets and sells power for PPL Montana in wholesale and retail energy markets throughout the western United States. PPL Montana and PPL EnergyPlus are subsidiaries of PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL).