Monday in Lansing, PNC teamed up with the Lansing School District to announce details regarding a pre-K initiative to give students a "head start" in life.
The initiative will help preschool teachers get classroom resources and tools, and it will recognize a "Teacher Hero" for Southeast Michigan.
PNC officials stated that "PNC recognizes that learning in a child's early years is essential for their long-term success. Through Grow Up Great, a $350-million, multi-year, bilingual initiative, PNC helps prepare children from birth to age 5 for success in school and life. With a focus on under-served children, Grow Up Great provides the leadership, advocacy, funding, volunteers and educational resources to help families, educators and community partners provide innovative opportunities that enhance children's learning and development."
The program was announced Monday morning at Gier Park School in Lansing.
The program kicks off with four initiatives:
· Spotlight: One outstanding early education teacher in each of PNC's markets will be honored as a Teacher Hero for her/his efforts and involvement in the PNC/DonorsChoose.org alliance. Each Teacher Hero will receive a $2,000 gift card to fund a project in her or his classroom and a second $2,000 gift card to help seed other pre-K projects listed on DonorsChoose.org.
· Match Funding: From now through May 31, 2018, PNC will match, dollar-for-dollar, donations that support public pre-K and Head Start teachers' project requests in the PNC service area listed on DonorsChoose.org, subject to restrictions and a maximum dollar amount. The duration of the match campaign depends on the number of project requests and donations. For specific guidelines on the match offer, visit DonorsChoose.org.
· Teacher Gift Cards: Today, every teacher who submitted a pre-K project request in the PNC footprint on DonorsChoose.org since April 4, 2017 received a $100 electronic gift card, distributed through DonorsChoose.org. More than 3,700 public pre-K and Head Start teachers received the funds to support new projects on DonorsChoose.org.
· PNC Volunteer Gift Cards: All PNC employees who volunteered for Grow Up Great in 2017 (approximately 17,000) will receive a $50 electronic gift card to support pre-K project requests on DonorsChoose.org.
