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PCGS and Stavros Center receive grant from the Coca Cola Foundation to help educators integrate sustainability into K-12 curriculum.

The Patel College has teamed up with USF’s Stavros Center for Free Enterprise and Economic Education to win a two-year $200,000 grant from the Coca Cola Foundation. The grant will be used to help K-12 educators teach their students about sustainability in 6 school districts of the Tampa Bay area serving over 3 million people.

The project, entitled “Sustainability Superheroes”, will enable PCGS and the Stavros Center to provide teachers through workshops and expert guest lectures with teaching material regarding sustainability principles and practices in all aspects of life. The goal is to empower teachers to engage students in interdisciplinary critical thinking that integreates physical sciences, social sciences, and civic responsibility to pursue the triple bottom line of environmental, social, and economic well being.

According to Dr. Philippidis “This program by the Patel College and the Stavros Center with the support of the Coca-Cola Foundation will help us prepare K-12 students with sustainability education that will empower them to actively participate in policy formulation and pursue career opportunities in the green economy of the future”

The school districts that will be served are those of Hillsborough, Pinellas, Manatee, Pasco, and Sarasota counties, which serve more than 550,000 students annually. Under the direction of Dr. George Philippidis, PCGS faculty members Drs. Kebreab Ghebremichael, TH Culhane, Brooke Hensen, Joseph Dorsey, and Heather Rothrock will work closely with Stavros Center Director Dr. Dick Puglisi and Associate Director Dr. Deb Kozdras to develop and deliver sustainability education material over the next two years with a goal of educating over 700 teachers.