Valley kids get field trips, art and STEM ed through PNC Foundation grants

YOUNGSTOWN

Louis Guzman and Landon Hinzman, both 3, ran around the Oh Wow! exhibit, shooting water across the room, squealing with delight.

The two boys are students in the YWCA of Youngstown’s preschool that visits Oh Wow! The Roger and Gloria Jones Children’s Center for Science and Technology weekly.

Both the center and the YWCA preschool are among nine organizations awarded an unspecified share of $55,000 in grants by the PNC Foundation.

The preschoolers’ weekly outing is funded by the foundation. The grant to Oh Wow! also will fund expansion of the Wow! on Wheels program which brings a science, technology, engineering and mathematics materials to preschools.

Each of the organizations received a grant to fund youth programs in science, technology and arts education, field trips, summer preschool and home services to children and their families.

Ted Schmidt, PNC regional president for Youngstown and Eastern Ohio, said the grants are part of PNC’s Grow Up Great, a $350 million early childhood education initiative started in 2004.

Studies have shown that early education gives those students an extra boost later in life, Schmidt said. The program brings that to children who may not otherwise be exposed to it.

Read more about the program in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.