With the help of PPL Montana, Billings West High School students will explore a section of the Yellowstone River through science and the arts and Elder Grove School students will study the functional and aesthetic quality of plants.

Both schools will receive a $1,500 Project Earth Environmental Education Grant to support their programs. The schools are two of nine grant winners this year receiving a total of more than $12,000 to support earth science programs.

“There are few things more important to our future than the environment and education,” said Lisa Perry, PPL Montana’s manager of Community Affairs. “That’s why we are so pleased to award competitive grants to teachers who create projects that provide a significant learning experience about the environment.”

Students from Billings West High School will spend several days at the Yellowstone River to conduct water analyses and other scientific assessments as they keep logs of the birds they see, write journal entries about the experiences they have and create artwork of the river.

Students from Elder Grove School will beautify the grounds of their new gymnasium by planting trees, shrubbery and flowers as they study how plants sustain wildlife, protect the soil, and provide shade and wind breaks. This also serves as an Eagle Scout service project.

This is the first year that PPL Montana has offered the Project Earth Environmental Education Grants program. Teachers can receive grants for school projects that focus on issues such as watersheds and wetlands, air quality, renewable resources, energy conservation and the greening of schools. The projects are designed to enhance established classroom curricula and academic standards, or support extracurricular activities of school organizations and clubs. PPL Montana employees chose this year’s winning projects.

“We salute the students and teachers of the Elder Grove School and Billings West High School who are doing their part to promote a healthy environment in Montana for generations to come,” Perry said.

PPL Montana sponsors the Environmental Education Grant program as part of PPL Project Earth, an initiative to educate the public about energy resources and the environment. For more information, visit the Environment section of the PPL Montana Web site at www.pplmontana.com.