NEWLY LISTED PROGRAMS:

In an effort to get more students and young adults interested in protecting our environment, $60,000 is on the way to Erie County to fund educational programs that will provide them with on-hands experience and information on the importance of ensuring environmental wellness, state Rep. Ryan Bizzarro (D-Erie) announced Tuesday.

The funding is part of the Environmental Education Grant program administered by the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection.

$30,000 was awarded to the Regional Science Consortium at Presque Isle Center for the “Coding for Climate Change: Using robotics to engineer solutions” program. This is a three-part educational series for students in grades 3-12 that will provide hands-on experiences to explore climate change and water-themed issues in the field, lab and robotics classroom.

$30,000 was also awarded to the Arts Council of Erie to fund three one-week summer day camps for students in grades 4-8 called “The Art & Science of Water: A multi-disciplinary immersive summer camp experience.” Through this program, students will be engaged in lessons surrounding food, sustainability, and streams and will implement a stewardship action project.

“These are exciting programs that will help get our students interested in preserving our environment at an early age by offering immersive, meaningful educational programs and hands-on opportunities. There’s no better way to learn,” said Bizzarro. “Any time we can promote environmental stewardship while giving our kids an opportunity to succeed, it’s a win for Erie and a win for Pennsylvania.”

More than $1.1 million was awarded to 68 environmental education projects across the state through this round of grant awards. Funding for the Environmental Education Grant program comes from pollution fines and penalties collected each year by the DEP.

This year alone, Bizzarro has helped direct more than $4.1 million in state investments back to Erie County.