Game Commission Offers 'Seedlings for Schools' Program; Game Commission Programs Help Earn Award for Foundation

HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe today announced the agency again will be helping Commonwealth school students learn about the vital role of trees in the environment through its "Seedlings for Schools" program, in which students will be able to plant a variety of tree seedlings at home, on school grounds or in their communities.

Orders will be accepted from Feb. 27 to April 1 through the agency's website (www.pgc.state.pa.us) by clicking on "Seedlings for Schools."

"There is no charge to schools participating in this project, as the seedlings are provided by the Game Commission's Howard Nursery," Roe said. "The cost of shipping seedlings is covered through the generous donations of Waste Management, Mealey's Furniture, Wildlife for Everyone Foundation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-Partners for Wildlife."

The program provides two levels of involvement based on the grade level, and the agency has been working with the state Department of Education to get the word out about the availability of seedlings.

"Seedlings for Your Class" is primarily for elementary students.  As part of this program, the Game Commission provides a classroom or one grade level with enough seedlings for each student to take a seedling home to plant.  Seedling choices are silky dogwood or white pine, and a teacher's guide comes with the seedlings.

"Seedlings to Develop Habitats" is primarily for middle and high school students.  As part of this program, the Game Commission provides a variety of seedlings to students interested in planting seedlings on school or community grounds to improve habitat, plant along a stream, develop a tree nursery, or create an environmental area.

"Seedlings come in bundles of 25, and will be shipped directly to schools by UPS toward the end of April, depending on order receipt and weather," said Annetta Ayers, superintendent of the Game Commission's Howard Nursery.  "Once seedlings arrive, it is important to keep them moist.  Hand out seedlings with roots in plastic bags with moist shredded newspaper or plant them in juice/milk cartons for transplanting at home. 'How to plant' information and educational materials will be provided with seedlings."

This year, all orders must be submitted online.  For more information, including how schools can order seedlings, visit the Game Commission's website (www.pgc.state.pa.us) and click on the "Seedlings for Schools" icon in the center of the homepage. A teachers' guide and student sheet also will be available on this page of the agency's website on Feb. 27.

To Connect with Wildlife, visit the Game Commission at the following:

Website: www.pgc.state.pa.us
Twitter: www.twitter.com/PAGameComm
YouTube: www.youtube.com/pagamecommission
Facebook: www.facebook.com/PennsylvaniaGameCommission

GAME COMMISSION PROGRAMS HELP EARN AWARD FOR FOUNDATION

The 2012 Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show recently presented its Youth Mentor Award to the Wildlife For Everyone Foundation for its financial support of the Pennsylvania Game Commission's Seedlings in the Schools and "Richard Guadagno Internship Program" in the agency's Southwest Region Office.

The Wildlife For Everyone Foundation, created by the Board of Game Commissioners in 2005, is an independent, non-profit organization that works with state agencies to preserve and enhance wildlife habitat, wildlife scientific research, wildlife education, land preservation, youth programs and to construct a wildlife education and research center.

As part of its education and youth missions, the Foundation has developed major funding support for the Game Commission's Seedling in the Schools program, which supplies seedlings from the agency's Howard Nursery in Centre County to more than a thousand schools across the state.  The Seedlings in the Schools program provides students with a variety of tree seedlings to plant at home, on school grounds or in their communities, and provides teaching tools for educators to help students learn more about the importance of trees in the environment and to wildlife and communities.

"Seedlings in the Schools has been a great outreach effort for the Game Commission, and is made possible by the hard-work of Theresa Alberici, Wildlife Conservation Education Specialist, and all of our Howard Nursery employees," said Carl G. Roe, Game Commission executive director.  "However, we would not be able to fully deliver this program if it were not for the financial assistance of the Wildlife For Everyone Foundation, and very much appreciate their annual contributions."

The Foundation also helped the Game Commission's Southwest Region office expand an innovative college internship program that gives college students hands-on experience in skills needed for careers in wildlife management.  The program is overseen by Joseph Stefko, Southwest Region Wildlife Education Supervisor, and originated in 1999.

With the funding from the Foundation, the Game Commission was able to restructure the program to offer stipends to students working in the eight-week internship, which now has been named the "Richard Guadagno Internship Program," in honor of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent who was among the passengers killed aboard Flight 93 in Somerset County on Sept. 11, 2001.

"Joe Stefko has done a tremendous job of overseeing the internship program, which has helped training students in a whole host of wildlife related activities," Roe said.  "There are dozens of students over the past dozen years who have benefitted greatly from this hands-on wildlife internship.  Now, thanks to the funding from the Foundation, these interns will be able to earn some money to use for their future educational efforts."

As part of the internship program, previous students helped with summer bat roost and breeding bird surveys; Canada goose banding; bear trapping; wildlife habitat assessments; vegetation sampling; legal updates and deputy meetings; data entry and analysis; report writing; wildlife biometrics and tissue sampling; library research; and educational programming.

For more information about the Foundation, go to www.wildlifeforeveryone.org.

To Connect with Wildlife, visit the Game Commission at the following:

Website: www.pgc.state.pa.us
Twitter: www.twitter.com/PAGameComm
YouTube: www.youtube.com/pagamecommission
Facebook: www.facebook.com/PennsylvaniaGameCommission

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SOURCE Pennsylvania Game Commission