By PLT Staff

Thanks to continuing support from Esurance, GreenWorks! grants will be awarded to schools and youth groups for community-based learning projects focusing on the environment in three areas where Esurance has offices: Phoenix, AZ; Sacramento, CA; and Denver, CO. These grants will give students a chance to apply classroom learning to community projects by partnering with local businesses and organizations. Applications for grants up to $6,000 from schools and youth groups in the metropolitan areas of Phoenix, Sacramento, and Denver are due on January 30, 2009. For more information on the grant criteria and to download an application, go to www.forestfoundation.org/greenworks_esurance.html.


“We’re thrilled to see Esurance continuing to invest in our PreK-12 environmental community-action projects that have already proven so successful,” said Kathy McGlauflin, Senior Vice President of Education for the American Forest Foundation.  “Previous GreenWorks! grants funded by Esurance prompted a lot of students to stand up and take a leadership role in improving their schools and communities.”  Previously funded projects have already involved elementary, middle, and high school students in Arizona, California, Georgia, South Dakota, and Texas.

Dr. Molina Walters, a Professor of Education at Arizona State University and recipient of a GreenWorks! Esurance grant awarded in February this year, said "GreenTeam students from Chaparral Elementary School love getting outside and investigating their local environment through this project. These fourth, fifth, and sixth graders trained to act as interpreters for school field trips to a local riparian preserve and they have inspired their fellow classmates to join with them on a recycling project at their school.”  She noted that funding through the GreenWorks! Esurance initiative enabled this partnership between Arizona State University students and the Gilbert Riparian Institute to “help elementary school students gain lifelong skills for how to mentor and teach others about environmental issues and lead future environmental projects within their community.”

Another 2008 grant recipient Christina Anderson, Science Content Specialist at Rock Creek Elementary School in Rocklin, California, said "Our fourth-grade students are providing habitat for the Western Bluebird by building and monitoring nesting boxes in their local wetland. Students have learned they can take action as citizens of Rocklin to better their environment, and they’re inspiring others to do the same through presentations to their school and community.”