988 Children Headed To Millbrook Marsh Nature Center

ClearWater Conservancy awarded $8,800 in funding February 24 through its “Connections” program for 988 students from 10 area schools to take part in field trips this spring to Millbrook Marsh Nature Center in State College.
            ClearWater's long-standing "Students-Communities-Streams-Connections" program pays for transportation and admission to the nature center. At Millbrook Marsh, the children will learn about their local natural environment through interactive and hands-on outdoor activities and experiments.
            “Trained naturalists introduce them to the wetland and the habitat. Activities include discovery walks, educational activities on the trail, experiencing the marsh hands-on by using their senses, and lots of exploration and discovery,” said Molly Hetrick, recreational supervisor at Millbrook Marsh. “All the programs are designed based on the PA State Standards for Environment and Ecology and supplement the school district’s classroom lessons.”
            Elementary and middle school student and their teachers received word about their grant awards in late February.
            “We are very excited and thankful that we can visit the Millbrook Marsh,” said one participating teacher, Michelle Krape of Pleasant Gap Elementary School. “It is a great complement to our Environment and Ecology Unit.”
            The 2010-11 Connections program was made possible with donations from The Hershey Company, State of the Art, the Centre County Community Foundation, the State College Evening Rotary, several individual donors.
            Spring 2011 funding recipients include:
-- Bellefonte Area School District: Bellefonte Elementary Schools; teacher Kathleen Sillman; 227 fourth-grade students at a cost of $1,825.50; Bellefonte Middle School; teacher Dave Gregor; 200 sixth-grade students at a cost of $1,640; Pleasant Gap Elementary School; teacher Michelle Krape; 46 second-grade students at a cost of $399.
-- Bald Eagle Area School District: Mountain Top Elementary; teacher Anne Houck; 32 first-grade students at a cost of $385.60; Port Matilda Elementary, teacher Shawnee Morgan; 27 first-grade students at a cost of $275.50.
-- Mifflin County School District: East Derry Elementary; teachers Jill Hartsock and Abby Henry; 52 second-grade students at a cost of $481.
-- Philipsburg-Osceola Area School District: North Lincoln Hill Elementary School; teacher Cindy Bryan; 60 first-grade students at a cost of $915.
-- Penns Valley Area School District: Penns Valley High School; teacher Jessica Martin; 92 seventh-grade students at a cost of $1,090.
-- Private Schools: Cen-Clear Child Services, Inc., Philipsburg; teacher Amy Wible, 225 preschool students at a cost of $1,462.50; State College Friends School, State College; teacher Dorothy Habecker; 14 kindergarten and first grade, students at a cost of $171; and teacher Lisa Gamble, 13 kindergarten and first grade students at a cost of $164.50.
            Millbrook Marsh Nature Center offers a variety of programs, events, and activities to the community, in addition to leading school groups through educational field trips.


3/14/2011

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