WASHINGTON, DC – September 07, 2007 – Project Learning Tree® (PLT), a national environmental education program sponsored by the American Forest Foundation, announced its recent partnership with Esurance, the direct-to-consumer personal auto insurance company. PLT’s GreenWorks! program provides schools with environmental service-learning grants.

Since 1992, PLT has provided schools with GreenWorks! grants focused on learning by doing. The grant gives students a chance to apply their classroom learning to community projects by partnering with local businesses and organizations. Projects range from growing organic gardens to creating citywide recycling programs, and are designed to develop students’ leadership skills and sense of community pride. The GreenWorks! grant acts as an extension to the environmental education materials PLT provides to teachers through professional development workshops.

“Esurance was very interested in the GreenWorks! grants because they combine education and initiative to yield benefits for our environment. Safeguarding our environment is the task of all generations, so we have to get young people thinking about ways they can contribute. Project Learning Tree helps educators and students explore issues in their communities and create change that benefits us all,” stated Kristin Brewe, Esurance’s Director of Brand and Public Relations.

Added Kathy McGlauflin, Senior Vice President of Education for the American Forest Foundation, “Leadership, environmental education, and community participation are at the core of PLT’s GreenWorks! projects. Esurance clearly shares these values and we’re delighted about this partnership. We expect many great environmental improvement projects to come of it.”

Esurance’s support makes GreenWorks! grants available to schools located near several of the company’s regional offices, including Rocklin, CA; Gilbert, AZ; Sioux Falls, SD; Alpharetta, GA; and Addison, TX. For more information about this initiative, please visit: http://www.plt.org/cms/pages/21_22_196.html.
 

About Project Learning Tree®
Project Learning Tree® (PLT) is the environmental education program of the American Forest Foundation. PLT provides educators with comprehensive environmental education curriculum resources that can be integrated into lesson plans for all grades and subject areas. PLT teaches students “how to think, not what to think” about complex environmental issues, and helps students learn the skills they need to make sound choices about the environment. Developed in 1976, PLT has an international network of more than 500,000 trained educators using PLT materials that cover the total environment. The American Forest Foundation, a nonprofit organization, works for healthy forests, quality environmental education, and informed decision-making about our communities and our world.

About Esurance®
Esurance, a subsidiary of White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. (NYSE: WTM), provides personal auto insurance direct to consumers online and through select online agents. Because of Esurance’s virtually paperless online customer experience, Esurance policyholders have saved thousands of trees since the company’s inception. In 2006, Esurance also helped plant over 20,000 trees through its support of urban reforestation programs.

Esurance is committed to safeguarding the environment through its own operational practices, including a hybrid claims fleet and carbon offset programs for its office locations. Esurance also supports a variety of environmental organizations across the U.S. For more information about Esurance’s environmental initiatives, visit: http://www.esurance.com/home/environment.asp.