FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 22, 2007
West Chester, Pa. – First National Bank of Chester County gave Stroud Water Research Center $5,000 today though the bank’s Pennsylvania Education Improvement Tax Credits program.
A check was presented during the Stroud Center’s 40th anniversary celebration. Stroud Water Research Center seeks to advance the knowledge of freshwater ecosystems through interdisciplinary research into all aspects of streams, rivers and their watersheds.
“First National has a history of supporting our educational and cultural institutions,” said John A. Featherman III, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of First National. “We are committed to improving our community and providing funds help with educational programs is an excellent way to continue our tradition.”
First National gives EITC funds to a number of schools, civic and cultural organizations, including the Chester County Art Association, Villa Maria Academy, Chester County Historical Society, Church Farm School, the Bethany Christian School, Kimberton Waldorf School, Bishop Shanahan, Upland Country Day School, West Chester Friends, Phoenixville Community Foundation, the Stroud Water Research Center and Faith Builder’s Old Paths Baptist Church.
The Stroud Center’s education department will use the EITC funding to provide free teacher-training workshops and student programs to regional school districts whose budgets might not otherwise be able to offer the innovative educational programs in support of their regular curricula.
Stroud Water Research Center watershed education programs seek to help middle- and high school students and teachers understand many of the scientific and environmental concepts in their schools’ curricula by direct, concrete and academic exposure to their local streams and regional watersheds.
The teacher-training workshops demonstrate how to use watersheds as a central theme to integrate standards and curriculum needs in a multidisciplinary, relevant way. Courses and workshops, which provide up-to-date content and hands-on experience in lab and field activities, can be tailored to meet the individual needs of teachers, schools and school districts.
The student programs could include:
- Investigation of Streamside Forests: Forest and streams form a vital link in watersheds. Students learn to identify and measure trees, and they investigate the connections among water quality, habitat and trees.
- Stream Study: Students explore the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of streams in the Center’s 1,800-acre watershed. Specific activities include a macroinvertebrate survey, habitat assessment and chemical analysis of a stream system.
- Stream Walk: This program is designed as a sensory investigation, in which students learn about the stream channel and flowing water through a scavenger hunt, problem-solving activities and a “stick race.”
First National, a subsidiary of First Chester County Corporation, is the largest independent national bank headquartered in Chester County and provides quality financial services to individuals, businesses, governmental entities, nonprofit organizations, and community service groups.
