FirstEnergy Awards Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Grants to 14 Teachers in West Penn Power Service Area

GREENSBURG, Pa., Nov. 29, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) has awarded Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) grants totaling $10,000 to 14 Pennsylvania teachers in the company's West Pennsylvania Power Company (West Penn Power) utility service area.  The grants will be used for a variety of hands-on projects, workshops and teacher development programs in classrooms across the service area.

The grant winners, their schools and projects are:

• Bonita Burgess, Cameron County School District, Emporium ? Building electric motors and circuits to learn about electricity.
• Charles M. Chamey, Johnsonburg Area High School, Johnsonburg ? Vocational program students will learn how to climb utility poles as preparation for attending FirstEnergy's Power Systems Institute utility line worker training program.
• Kristen Fulgenzio, Burgettstown Area Elementary Center, Burgettstown ? Building and programming robots.
• Kurt Jones, West Greene High School, Waynesburg ? Learning about aquaponics, devising monitoring schemes and devices to calculate how much solar power is necessary to make the operation self-sustaining.
• Sue Melton, Springdale Junior-Senior High School, Springdale ? Learning to program lights in synch with music.
• Lyla Mitchell, Adelphoi Education, Fairchance ? Building one of three types of robots.
• Greg Reger and Jackson Knoll, McGuffey High School, Claysville ? AP physics students will work in pairs to design and construct buildings for a model town, while AP chemistry students will design battery cells that can produce power for the town.
• Dawn Schwartz, Western Beaver Junior-Senior High School, Industry ? Using Global Positioning Satellite devices to learn about area, perimeter and using coordinates to determine distance.
• Emilie Shogan, Penn Trafford School District, Harrisson City ? Learning about math and science in a before-school program.
• Amber Urick, Sunrise Estates Elementary School, Irwin ? Use building materials to learn lessons in a variety of disciplines.
• Jodi Weismann, Trafford Elementary School, Trafford ? Practicing concepts using various materials throughout the school year.
• Lauren Windstein and Tara Kohowski, South Fayette Intermediate School, McDonald ? Reviving the school's rooftop garden.

"FirstEnergy has long supported educational activities in communities served by our Pennsylvania utilities, particularly those that encourage students to pursue careers in the critical fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics," said Dee Lowery, president of the FirstEnergy Foundation.  "We are pleased to provide assistance to so many STEM projects this year to support our students, schools and educators as they work to help build a strong workforce for the future."  

FirstEnergy offers grants up to $1,000 to individual teachers and administrators at schools served by its electric utility operating companies and in communities where it has facilities.  Company-wide, these grants totaled almost $70,000 in 2017.        

Grant recipients are recommended by local educators who make up FirstEnergy's Educational Advisory Council.  As part of the program, recipients must furnish a written summary and evaluation of their projects that can be shared with other educators in FirstEnergy's service area.

West Penn Power serves about 720,000 customers in 24 Pennsylvania counties.  Connect with West Penn Power on Twitter @W_Penn_Power and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/WestPennPower.

FirstEnergy is dedicated to safety, reliability and operational excellence.  Its 10 electric distribution companies form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York.  The company's transmission subsidiaries operate more than 24,000 miles of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions.  Follow FirstEnergy on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp or online at www.firstenergycorp.com.

SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.