From left: David St. Charles, Agent; Brad Nielsen, Agent; Gwynne Evans, Teacher; Chris Collins, Agency Field Executive; Deborah R. Thompson, Vice President-Agency; and Chris Nielsen, Agent. |
Columbia, Tenn., Sept. 27, 2012 – Spring Hill High School will receive a $86,590 service-learning grant for “To Bee or Not to Bee,” a service-learning project from the State Farm Youth Advisory Board. Students in Gwynne Evans' Career and Technical classes wrote the environmental grant to enhance their study of bees and educate other students and community members on the role bees play in our food production. Spring Hill High School was the only school in the state of Tennessee to receive a Youth Advisory Board grant.
"Our students have worked with a smaller scale bee colony here on campus and this grant allows us to grow the project to a full-blown, self-sustaining one that enables us to collect honey, sell products, and most importantly, educate our community and young people about the importance of bees," said Evans. His students are equally excited. "This is really a big deal," added Caleb Lovett, a junior at Spring Hill High. "What State Farm has done for us will take us to a level we simply could not achieve on our own. This project is important because without bees, there would be no pollination which means no food!"
Spring Hill High School is one of 68 community organizations to receive a youth-led service-learning grant across the United States and Canada.
The State Farm Youth Advisory Board has granted over $24 million in grant money since its inception in 2006, empowering youth to implement service-learning in 397 communities.
Additionally, applications are available for interested, passionate youth aged 17-20 to become Youth Advisory Board members and decide which organizations will receive funding for 2013-2014. More information can be found at http://www.statefarmyab.com. Applications must be submitted online by Oct. 1.
Kip Diggs, Public Affairs Specialist, (615) 692-6682.
The State Farm Youth Advisory Board is a diverse group of 30 youth, ages 17-20, who were chosen through a competitive process to lead and oversee this $5 million/year signature service-learning initiative. The Youth Advisory Board identified the issues, issued competitive grants and will now provide technical assistance, communication and oversight to grantees.
State Farm and its affiliates are the largest provider of car insurance in the U.S. and is a leading insurer in Canada. In addition to providing auto insurance quotes, their 17,800 agents and more than 65,000 employees serve 81 million policies and accounts - more than 79 million auto, home, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and nearly 2 million bank accounts. Commercial auto insurance, along with coverage for renters, business owners, boats and motorcycles, is also available. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 43 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit http://www.statefarm.com or in Canada http://www.statefarm.ca.
