PNC donates $75,000 to Whitaker Center to promote STEM

The PNC Foundation awarded a $75,000 grant to Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts as part of the financial institution’s multi-million, multi-year “Grow Up Great” initiative. The program supports early childhood development in the capital region with a focus on science, technology, engineering and math.

“In a world that is increasingly dependent on advancements in science, technology, engineering and math, it makes perfect sense to plant the STEM seeds early on in kids,” said Jim Hoehn, PNC Bank’s regional president for central Pennsylvania, who announced the donation at Downey Elementary School.

Hoehn said the grant will increase local schools’ accessibility to the Whitaker Center’s STEM programming by offering field trips and visits from center educators with the Whitaker on Wheels (WOW) van, which travels to pre-school and early intervention programs in the capital region.

“At PNC, we share Whitaker’s commitment to early childhood education,” Hoehn said at Tuesday morning announcement at Downey Elementary School. “We believe it’s absolutely critical to invest in young children and the neighborhoods to give them a good foundation for success in life and in school.”

Stephen Gierasch, chair of the Whitaker Center Board of Directors, said the PNC Foundation’s grant will support the center’s mission to expose elementary school students from underserved schools to STEM learning who might otherwise not have the resources to attend the center’s on-site programming.

“You can’t read anything in STEM these days and not see one of the challenges is how do we access and expose our younger learners to a STEM education,” Gierasch said Tuesday. “One of the things we can do with this grant is actually help to push that learning experience outside of the center.”

Harrisburg School District Receiver Janet Samuels said 70% of parents in the commonwealth with children up to the age of five work during the day, a fact she said “underscores the need for and the importance of high-quality early learning opportunities.”

“High-quality daycare and high-quality learning opportunities are often hard to find and are often not funded,” Samuels said. “When we think about this, this factor really reinforces why the district is so thrilled and honored and grateful to partner with United Way, and we truly appreciate the learning opportunities that are provided by Whitaker Center and PNC.”