PNC Early Childhood Education Program Earns Grant

PNCPurdue University North Central (PNC) Center for Early Learning recently received a $1,000 GreenWorks! Grant from the Project Learning Tree® (PLT), the environmental education program of the American Forest Foundation (AFF), for students in the PNC Early Childhood Education program to work with Westville Little School in Westville, to create a garden as a learning experience.

The PNC Early Childhood Education teachers candidates will use the grant to work with preschoolers to plan, create, and implement the garden on the school grounds. The garden will include plants with interesting textures, scents, colors, and names to stimulate the children’s development.

The Westville Little School is a collaboration between the Westville-New Durham School Corporation, Dunebrook, and PNC. The goal is to prepare young children and their families for a seamless transition to kindergarten.

“For the young learners, the Children’s Garden will become a source of civic pride and an appropriate play space. The college learners will exercise leadership skills,” said Mary Jane Eisenhauer, PNC associate professor of Early Childhood Education.

This grant was one of 63 awarded to schools and youth organizations in 33 states and the District of Columbia. For a list of all projects receiving grants, go to www.plt.org/GreenWorks-grant-award-winners-2015.

GreenWorks! is the service-learning component of Project Learning Tree that engages educators, students, and their communities in “learning-by-doing” local environmental stewardship projects. Since 1992, AFF has distributed more than $1 million to fund more than 1,000 PLT GreenWorks! action projects in communities across the country. The USDA Forest Service funded all GreenWorks! grants this year, up to $2,000 each.