Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, welcomed the 21st Century to campus on Tuesday, April 21 -- the 21st Century Kids, that is.
The campus hosted 90 seventh graders from three Warren County schools, Eisenhower Middle/High School, Beatty-Warren Middle School and Youngsville Elementary/Middle School, as part of the 21st Century Kids program, which targets youth from rural populations and strives to combat the geographical and economic isolation that is prevalent among students in these areas.
"21st Century Kids help students overcome the geographic and economic obstacles that families in rural communities often face," said Michelle Hartmann, area representative for Continuing Education. "Our goal is to expose students to the potential opportunities that are available to them."
Half of the students participated in workshops at Penn State Behrend that focused on psychology as well as the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. Half participated in activities with Pennsylvania Sea Grant at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center (TREC). The groups met at Penn State Behrend for lunch before ending the day.
21st Century Kids is one of 10 Penn State Behrend outreach programs approved to receive funding through the Pennsylvania Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC), a state initiative that allows companies to offset a portion of their corporate tax liability by directly investing in programs that provide unique academic enrichment experiences for children.
Penn State Behrend has received EITC-related funding from Warren-based North Penn Pipe and Supply, Snap-tite, Inc. of Erie and Verizon to support 21st Century Kids. To date, 21st Century Kids' programming has reached students in Warren, Corry and Shenango through science enrichment programs for seventh-grade students, summer visits, summer camps for Warren County students, and "Explore Your Options," a one-day outreach program.
In addition, the remaining outreach programs approved to receive EITC funding are the Young People's Chorus of Erie, Penn State Educational Partnership Program (PEPP), Math Options events, Chemistry Day, Women in Engineering Day, Minority College Experience/Women in Science and Engineering, Pennsylvania Sea Grant’s aquatic sciences outreach programs, Earth Force, and Understanding Credit.
For more information, visit www.behrend.psu.edu.