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EPA Gives $4,000 to Pa. School for the Deaf

Release Date: 7/29/1999
Contact Information: Donna M. Heron (215) 814-5113

PHILADELPHIA, Pa -- The Pennsylvania School for the Deaf received a $4,000 environmental education grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, mid-Atlantic Region, to create an environmental education program for 15 students, ages 13 to 15.

The goal of the Adventures in Learning program is to introduce deaf students to environmental careers because only about 15 percent of deaf students in Pennsylvania graduate from college and 40 percent are unemployed.

Students with severe to profound hearing losses spent four days in June at Penn State University’s Mont Alto Campus learning about the environment, career development, and being exposed to a general university life with an emphasis on a successful experience and increased self-esteem.

"This grant not only introduces these special students to environmental issues, but opens the door to the possibility of a rewarding career. These environmental education grants help improve the educational opportunities for our young people and spark an early interest in science, math and technology," said W. Michael McCabe, EPA’s regional administrator for the mid-Atlantic region.

EPA’s education grant program is designed to stimulate grass-roots environmental education, in the mid-Atlantic region, 25 grant recipients include schools, civic groups and non-profit organizations. Nationally, $3 million was awarded in 1999.

For more information on this grant, contact Ellen Wentworth at (215) 814-2034. EPA’s regional Internet home page also has general information on the grants is https://www.epa.gov/region03.