Schlitz Audubon Nature Center Enhances Educational Programming Through SBC Foundation Grant
Milwaukee-Area Students to Experience the Natural World
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, December 17, 2001
Milwaukee-area students will experience hands-on training in biology, botany and geology at the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, thanks to a grant from the SBC Foundation. The SBC Foundation recently awarded a $10,000 grant to the Center to support experiential learning programs to supplement traditional classroom study, as well as to provide more than 400 scholarships for central-city students to participate in the Center's activities.
"SBC Ameritech is committed to providing educational opportunities that benefit Milwaukee-area youth," said Merrill Wegner, external affairs director, SBC Ameritech Wisconsin. "The Schlitz Audubon Nature Center has developed a successful and unique program that has become one of the largest for natural science education in the Midwest."
Through this grant, the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center will continue their tradition of educating elementary and secondary school children about their natural environment by encouraging an understanding and appreciation of the earth. Highlights of the Center's natural science classes include:
Nature's Neighborhoods: Students discover the similarities and differences between fields, forests, ponds and lakeshores.
Insects and their Relatives - Invertebrates: Students catch, observe and study the structure of these creatures.
Wetlands by Canoe: Using the Center's canoes, students get an inside look at organisms and animals living in a wild marsh.
"More than half of the students who attend our programs come from schools in the city where they do not have access to natural areas," said Amy Burke, director of development for the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center. "SBC's support makes it possible for us to bring environmental education to all students."
Since 1996, the SBC Foundation, the philanthropic arm of SBC Communications Inc., contributed more than $108 million in grants to K-12 and higher education initiatives. Last year, nearly 40 percent of the Foundation's grants went to programs that support educational improvements in SBC's 13-state territory. The Foundation funds education initiatives that support improved student achievement, teacher preparedness, minority student success and increased use of new technologies that bridge the divide between students who have access to advanced technologies and those that don't.
Key projects include: Education for the Future Initiative, a national program that addresses the issue of systematic improvement for increased student learning; SBC National Telecommunications Partnership Awards program, which recognize organizations that demonstrate the most innovative use of technology to enhance education; and the National Urban League to support its creation and maintenance of community technology centers.
The SBC Foundation is the charitable giving arm of SBC Communications Inc. and its family of companies. In 2000, SBC, through Foundation and corporate giving, donated more than $95 million to support efforts that enrich and strengthen diverse communities nationwide. The Foundation places primary emphasis on supporting programs that help increase access to information technologies; broaden technology training and skills development; and effectively integrate new technologies to enhance education and economic development -- especially for underserved populations. SBC has been named among America's Most Generous Companies for two consecutive years by Worth magazine (2000 & 2001).
SBC Communications Inc. (www.sbc.com) is a global communications leader. Through its subsidiaries' trusted brands - Southwestern Bell, Ameritech, Pacific Bell, Nevada Bell, SNET and Sterling Commerce - and world-class network, SBC and its affiliated companies provide a full range of voice, data, networking and e-business services, including local and long-distance voice, high-speed Internet access and data transport, voice and data network integration, software and process integration, Web site and application hosting, e-marketplace development, paging and messaging, as well as cable and satellite television, and directory advertising and publishing. In the United States, the company currently has 61.3 million access lines and is undertaking a national expansion program under SBC Telecom that will bring SBC service to new U.S. markets. SBC has a 60 percent equity interest in Cingular Wireless, its joint venture with BellSouth, which serves more than 20 million wireless customers. Internationally, SBC has telecommunications investments in 28 countries and has annual revenues that rank it among the largest Fortune 500 companies.
