Mascaro Offers Education Grant Opportunity to Schools
Showing respect is not only beneficial to your everyday
well-being but it can earn your classroom up to $5,000.00. Since 2010,
local waste and recycling company, J.P. Mascaro & Sons, has given away over
$230,000 in grants to schools dedicated to spreading the message of
respect.
Director of Education, Lindsay Mascaro Ptaszenski, says, “We
feel it is vital that children learn the importance of respect and why it is necessary
in our lives. Being respectful creates a foundation for a successful
future. There is no better time to do this than in your early years of
life. At Mascaro, we take our role in supporting positive character development
in our youth seriously.”
Mascaro has offered elementary schools a complimentary
presentation, called The RESPECT Program, for the past ten years. This
program educates students on the significance of respecting others, themselves
and the environment. In the past, schools hosted this interactive
and exciting program at their individual schools. Currently it is offered
as a field trip. Still no cost to the schools, elementary students now
take part in the presentation at Mascaro’s headquarters located in Audubon.
“We decided to create a field trip out of our sought after
RESPECT Program where students can take a few hours out of the classroom and
really indulge in the invigorating presentation we offer. It is
completely free to the schools and we even include lunch for those active
minds,” Director of Communications, Frank Sau, explained.
The immediate success of the program led Mascaro to see how
interested and eager students were to encompass this core ethical value and
started offering The RESPECT Program Educational Grant. This grant was
designed to encourage and support teachers and educational communities in
continuing to spread the message of respect after the presentation
concluded. Schools can earn up to $5,000 for their classrooms.
“We saw how much the children embraced the idea of respect
and wanted to encourage further development. The RESPECT Program
Educational Grant was established to challenge Pennsylvania teachers to
creatively design an activity or program that emphasizes respect and will help
them with the necessary recourses for implementation. Over the last six
years we’ve had ideas ranging from books to gardens to iPads fit with respect
designed lessons. We continue to be impressed with the creativity and
commitment of area teachers,” Ptaszenski said.
In previous years, schools were required to take part in the
RESPECT Program in order to be eligible for a grant. For the first time,
Mascaro is accepting applications from all area schools regardless of the
completion of the program. For more information on The RESPECT Program
and on how to apply for a grant visit here.