On behalf of the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, I want to thank you and the Kate Svitek Memorial Foundation for its recent gift of $1,000. I am so pleased that the Foundation is interested in supporting our mission of environmental education again this year!

Within the last year, The Schuylkill Center has begun a new and exciting initiative towards providing education to the public about sustainable energy methods. As the environment and global economies change, this topic is growing in popularity. Therefore, The Schuylkill Center has emerged as a Philadelphia leader in this important environmental movement.

By the end of 2006, The Schuylkill Center will serve as a demonstration of two sustainable technologies: a green roof and a solar panel system. Additionally, The Schuylkill Center is researching the possibility of a third technology, in the form of a demonstration wind turbine that would be installed on site. Together, the three technologies present an impressive array of teaching tools that The Schuylkill Center will use to education the 50,000 people who visit our site each year.

As you may remember reading in the fall 2005 edition of The Quill, The Schuylkill Center installed a green roof on our Main Education Building during June. With time, the plants will grow and help to reduce stormwater runoff, clean rain water, provide wildlife habitat, and conserve energy as the roof insulates the building. The solar panel system complimenting the green roof will be constructed this spring and installed directly adjacent to the entrance of our Main Education Building. With this technology, The Schuylkill Center will reduce green house gas emissions and decrease overhead costs by 6%!

Although the systems are not being used for demonstration yet, the Education Department is diligently working to create education lessons that feature these sustainable energy methods. The Education Department is focusing on producing materials to teach the general public, including children and adults, as well as students of all ages. Our Director of Education is also collaborating with the Curriculum Coordinator from the on site Green Woods Charter School to ensure that this technology is covered in their environmental education lessons! We are proud to exhibit both systems as cutting edge, educational models.

Again, thank you for your support. It is greatly appreciated and makes it easier for us to carry out environmental awareness. I truly believe that both The Schuylkill Center and the Foundation are working towards the same goal of installing a love for the natural world in others. I would be happy to give you a tour of our grounds. Do not hesitate to contact me at (215) 482-7300, ext. 139 or apoff@schuylkillcenter.org.

Sincerely,

Ashleigh Poff
Grant & PR Coordinator