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ELC AWARDED $5,000 GRANT FROM PNC FOUNDATION
FOR SUPPORT OF SECOND STEAM MACHINE
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Palmetto, Florida, December 3, 2018 – The Early Learning Coalition of Manatee County (ELC) has been awarded a $5,000 grant from the PNC Foundation to help support the creation of a second STEAM Machine mobile classroom as part of the ELC’s successful STEAM Machine early learning program.
Paul Sharff, ELC Chief Executive Officer, said: “The Early Learning Coalition is extremely appreciative of this support from PNC Bank. Promoting STEAM education gives children the opportunity to attain essential skills to connect ideas and integrate knowledge across disciplines, all the while capturing their attention. The PNC Foundation contribution will enable us to reach even more early learners in Manatee County.”
STEAM curriculum focuses on science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math. The ELC’s STEAM Machine exploratory curriculum engages early learners in real projects within authentic environments and lays the academic groundwork for math and science.
The STEAM Machine program is available to all VPK classrooms in Manatee County. The STEAM Machine visited 58 classrooms serving 826 four-year-olds in the 2017/18 school year. The program anticipates visiting 60 classrooms in the current 2018/19 school year.
The new STEAM Machine will be constructed from a school bus donated to the ELC by the School District of Manatee County. The bus will be transformed by students at Manatee Technical College using building materials and an exterior wrap funded by community contributions, including the PNC Foundation grant.
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The Early Learning Coalition of Manatee County, Inc. is a multi-service agency dedicated to helping children develop skills that they will need to be successful in school and life. The agency’s focus is on high quality school readiness opportunities for all children and their families, understanding that it is in the first years of life that a child’s future educational success is determined and the critical role of parents, as their child’s first and most important teacher. To learn more about Coalition’s services, please visit www.elc-manatee.org or call (941) 757-2900, extension 212.
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