News

PNC Financial Services Group  has announced a ten-year, $250 million extension of its Grow Up Great early childhood education initiative (http://www.pncgrowupgreat.com), which has benefited more than a million children since its launch in 2004 and has awarded $40 million in grants to date through the PNC Foundation.

As part of its re-commitment to the effort, PNC also announced a $7 million expansion of its preschool science initiative, which was launched in 2009. The competitive grant program will fund regional science centers and nonprofit organizations that give children opportunities for inquiry-based science learning and experience-related activities that are both educational and fun.

4-C, in conjunction with the Louisville Science Center, is now in its third year collaborating a local effort under the PNC Grow Up Great with Science initiative and is working with four partnering early childhood facilities (California Area Family Development Center, St. Benedict Center for Early Childhood Education, Friends School and Dawson Orman Education Center) to embed science exploration in their daily programming through professional development trainings, resources, parent education, science festivals and technical assistance classroom visits from an early childhood specialist.

Professional Development Science Trainings developed under this initiative are now available to any child care provider as a part of the regular 4-C training calendar including Face to Face Trainings, Independent Study Modules and On-Site Trainings tailored for each facility. For more information on how you can incorporate science into your program, type “science” into the search engine on the left to read our latest Science Blog or contact Robin Schotter, Early Childhood Science Specialist at [email protected].