Chesterton Tribune

 

 

ArcelorMittal awards $20,000 to Porter County parks to aid pond restoration

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ArcelorMittal recently awarded a $20,000 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) related grant to the Porter County Parks Foundation to support the partnership between the Porter County Career and Technical School (PCCTS) and the Porter County Parks & Recreation Department, as the two agencies work to build an educational dock on the “No-Can-Do Pond” at Sunset Hill Farm County Park in Liberty Township in 2015.

The dock is part of the on-going Pond and Prairie Restoration and engages the PCCTS students in STEM activities by utilizing their expertise and assistance to design, engineer and potentially build the proposed dock. “This is a one of kind partnership that not only helps to make our kids more employable but helps to improve our quality of life in Porter County. This will benefit the more than 3,500 field trip students and thousands of daily visitors at the park,” said Walter Lenckos, Superintendent for Porter County Parks and Recreation.

The dock will be utilized by park staff and volunteers for field trips and educational programming to teach local students and park visitors about native species, water quality, wetlands, pond environments and human impact on them.

ArcelorMittal is proud to partner with Porter County Parks Foundation on a project that deeply connects two of the chief tenants of our philanthropic giving program - science education and environmental conservation,” said Marcy Twete, Manager, Corporate Responsibility, Americas and Executive Director, USA Foundation, ArcelorMittal. “In addition, ArcelorMittal believes strongly in the power of public-private partnerships and looks forward to seeing this project move forward with the help of key partners in the public, private, education and nonprofit sectors.”

Porter County Parks has partnered with ArcelorMittal, Porter County Career and Technical School, the Porter County Parks Foundation, DNR, Soil & Water Conservation District of Porter County, and Purdue North Central (Westville Campus) to restore the pond and prairie at Sunset Hill Farm County Park.

 

Posted 12/16/2014

 
 

 

 

 

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