 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
June 22, 2009
Alcoa Foundation selects Alcoa Middle School teacher for environmental training in Colorado
|
|
|
When the school year begins in August at Alcoa Middle School, eighth grade students will find new environmental lessons in their classrooms, thanks to Alcoa Foundation.
Alcoa’s Tennessee Operations is supporting science teacher Shawn Kerr as he attends The Keystone Center's Key Issues Institute: Bringing Environmental Issues to the Classroom in Colorado from July 14-19. Kerr will implement ideas he learned at the institute for the benefit of the more than 140 students he’ll be teaching during the upcoming academic year.
"I’m really excited to have this opportunity. I’m especially looking forward to meeting science teachers from all areas of the country. We’ll be sharing our best lesson plans and best ideas,” said Kerr. Kerr has taught at Alcoa Middle School for the past seven years and helped establish the school’s science club and recycling program.
Kerr is one of 16 teachers selected by 13 Alcoa locations in 11 states who will be attending the 2009 Environmental Issues workshops over the summer. Since 1997, Alcoa Foundation has strengthened the skills of 131 teachers across 26 states in delivering sustainability education to students.
“The teachers that come to the training bring a cadre of experiences and issues relevant to their communities,” said Dan Schroder, Key Issues Program Director at The Keystone Center. Teachers use the Key Issues Framework, which meets National Education Standards in a variety of disciplines, to implement classroom plans in their schools that focus on local environmental issues. Past session participants have addressed diverse issues, including water quality, wetlands and solid waste management in their respective communities.
"We are pleased to be able to offer this opportunity to Mr. Kerr. Alcoa takes great pride in being a good neighbor to our area schools and being a steward of the environment. This partnership will allow us to further the cause of environmental education through Mr. Kerr’s teaching for years to come,” said Chris Jackson, Alcoa Inc. RPD Location Manager.
Within the context of a scientific investigation, teachers spend the week in classroom lessons as well as field activities exploring the environmental aspects of a simulated issue. To augment their classroom implementation, participants receive the simulated curriculum, instructional materials, computer software programs, lab kits as well as on-line support with other educators and instructors.
About Alcoa Foundation
Alcoa Foundation has been working alongside the communities where Alcoa has a presence since 1952 with over $490 million invested to strengthen community sustainability and address local and global challenges in such areas as Conservation and Climate Change, Education and Skills Development, Health and Safety, Diversity and Future Leaders, and Community Capacity and Resilience.
In the last three years (2006-2008) Alcoa Foundation has invested more than $22 million in community-based projects to inform public policy, build capacity, raise awareness and mobilize action around global climate change. Additionally, since late 2005, Alcoa Foundation’s flagship $9.2 million Conservation & Sustainability Fellowship Program has been unlocking answers to the most challenging sustainability issues facing the world today - climate change, energy use, water management, accelerated growth and development in all corners of the globe.
Alcoa has a strong culture of employee volunteerism, with employees giving 705,000 services hours in 2008 to make their communities stronger, more resilient places to live and work.
For more information, visit www.alcoa.com/foundation.
About The Keystone Center
The Keystone Center (TKC) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1975 to ensure that present and future generations approach environmental and scientific dilemmas and disagreements creatively and proactively. The Keystone Center's mission is to equip citizens with deliberative frameworks, democratic processes, analytical information, and critical-thinking skills to navigate tough problems and develop solutions. Through its two major programs, The Keystone Center for Science and Public Policy and the Center for Education, The Keystone Center improves decisions about long-term issues by helping thought-leaders, teachers, students, and decision-makers effectively address technically complex and politically uncertain situations.
Since Key Issues Institutes piloted in 1992, the generous support of foundations and corporations, including Alcoa has enabled more than 2,000 middle level educators to enhance the decision-making skills of their students. For more information, visit www.keystone.org.
About Alcoa Tennessee Operations
Alcoa’s Tennessee Operations is the world's largest producer of rolled aluminum can sheet for beverage cans and is based in Blount County, Tennessee. Locally, it employs more than 1,000 at its smelting and fabrication plants in Blount County, its hydropower facilities, and its downtown Knoxville office.
|
|
|
|
|
|
