National Grid Unites Organizations to Bring Sustainability Education to Boston Students

WALPOLE, MA, February 14, 2013 (Press-News.org) National Grid has brought together two of their sponsored organizations to collaborate on a National Green Week initiative for Boston students. Green Education Foundation (GEF), the founder of National Green Week, has teamed up with City Year, a non-profit organization that provides education and mentoring to at-risk youth across the country, to offer sustainability focused lessons and activities to Boston students during City Year's extended day program.

National Grid has been a GEF sponsor for four years, during which time the organizations have worked together to offer free K-12 educational resources and contests as part of GEF's Green Energy Challenge. National Grid has been a proud sponsor of the Blackstone Elementary School through its partnership with City Year Boston for the past three years. The company recognized the opportunity to connect GEF with City Year to benefit from City Year's corps members having developed relationships with students, through their in-school and after-school programs, that can uniquely leverage the afterschool time to engage them in Green Week curriculum.

At eight schools in Boston, students are participating in National Green Week from February 4-8 during their extended day program. On February 5, Marcy Reed, President of National Grid Massachusetts, visited the Blackstone Elementary School in Boston's South End to spend time with students and City Year corps members and participate and observe as they learned about sustainability.

"We're thrilled to have two of our partners working together to educate Boston's youth on the importance of sustainability," said Marcy Reed, president, National Grid MA. "GEF and City Year share National Grid's commitment to the environment and education so it's a great fit and the perfect time for all of us to come together and celebrate National Green Week in this unique and innovative way."

National Green Week is the largest K-12 sustainability education campaign in the nation. Participating schools, classrooms and youth groups can choose any week to be their Green Week between February 4 and April 30. During their chosen Green Week, schools and groups are encouraged to spend time with students discussing sustainability topics and exploring ways they can make a difference. GEF offers six sustainability themes to choose from for Green Week, each of which includes free lessons, activities, tips, and more.

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About Green Education Foundation (GEF)
Green Education Foundation (GEF) is a non-profit organization committed to creating a sustainable future through education. Sustainability education provides educators with the real-world applied learning models that connect science, technology, and math education with the broader human concerns of environmental, economic, and social systems. GEF provides curriculum and resources to K-12 students and teachers worldwide with the goal of challenging them to think holistically and critically about global environmental concerns and solutions.

Become a member for free to gain full access to GEF's comprehensive library of standards-based lessons and activities at http://www.greeneducationfoundation.org. Join the sustainability education conversation by following GEF on Twitter @greenedufdn and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/greenedufoundation.

About National Grid
National Grid (LSE: NG; NYSE:NGG) is an electricity and gas company that connects consumers to energy sources through its networks. The company is at the heart of one of the greatest challenges facing our society - to create new, sustainable energy solutions for the future and developing an energy system that underpins economic prosperity in the 21st century. National Grid holds a vital position at the center of the energy system and it 'joins everything up'.

In the northeast US, we connect more than seven million gas and electric customers to vital energy sources, essential for our modern lifestyles. In Great Britain, we run the gas and electricity systems that our society is built on, delivering gas and electricity across the country.

National Grid delivers electricity to approximately 3.3 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island. It manages the electricity network on Long Island under an agreement with the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), and owns over 4,000 megawatts of contracted electricity generation, providing power to over one million LIPA customers. It is the largest distributor of natural gas in northeastern U.S., serving approximately 3.4 million customers in New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

Follow us on Twitter, watch us on Youtube, friend us on Facebook and find our photos on Flickr

About City Year
City Year is an education-focused, nonprofit organization founded in 1988 that partners with public schools to provide full-time targeted intervention for students most at risk of dropping out. In more than 20 communities across the United States and through two international affiliates, our teams of young AmeriCorps leaders support students by focusing on attendance, behavior, and course performance through in-class tutoring, mentoring, and after school programs that keep kids in school and on track to graduate.
In Boston, City Year supports more than 11,000 students in 21 schools, including 25% of students at-risk of falling behind or dropping out. To learn more, visit http://www.cityyear.org or http://www.cityyearbostonblog.com.