University of Arizona College of Education Cooper Center Receives $30,000 Qwest Foundation Grant

Business Wire, Oct 7, 2008

Donation Connects Science with Real-World Lessons for Students

PHOENIX -- The Qwest Foundation today announced a $30,000 grant to help fund the University of Arizona (UA) College of Education Cooper Center - a new partnership between the University of Arizona College of Education and Tucson Unified School District (TUSD). The TUSD, which serves more than 60,000 preK-12th grade students, is the second largest school district in Arizona. The grant will be officially awarded on Oct. 8 at an event from 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. at the Cooper Center (5403 W. Trails End Road) in Tucson.

"We truly appreciate Qwest's contribution to the Cooper Center for Environmental Learning. This program exists in large part due to Qwest's generous support," said Ron Marx, Dean of the University of Arizona College of Education. "The work that the Cooper Center does, using the natural environment as a catalyst for engaging students in out-of-school education experiences, is vital to understanding science in the real world."

The Qwest grant will help the Cooper Center reach more than two-thirds of all students in the Tucson area. This is made possible by existing partnerships between UA College of Education, the TUSD Science Center, and the Flowing Wells and Sunnyside school districts.

"Qwest is proud to support the University of Arizona College of Education Cooper Center as it serves more than 60,000 students in the Tucson Unified School District," said Jim Campbell, Qwest Arizona president. "The connection that the Cooper Center creates between fundamental educational subjects and the real world is crucial to a student's long-term success."

The Cooper Center uses an innovative approach combining fundamental science concepts with real-world emphasis to provide students with proper context surrounding the importance of science. Teachers work with the UA College of Education faculty to develop the connections between school learning and out-of-school experiences in science, social studies, reading and writing. The Cooper Center provides UA College of Education students with opportunities to teach preK-12th grade students develop and implement innovative curriculum and conduct important research.

The Qwest Foundation grant is helping make the Cooper Center's real-world experiments possible, including learning about "green" issues, such as environmental sustainability in the desert. Students will set-up model environmental sustainability systems and receive bigger-picture perspective on collected data. These models will include:

* Solar Electric: photovoltaic electrical generation

* Rainwater Harvesting: automated system

* Rainwater Harvesting: Earthworks

About the Qwest Foundation

The Qwest Foundation's core principle is that investing in people and communities provides lasting value for the future. The Qwest Foundation awards grants to community-based programs that generate high-impact and measurable results, focusing on pre-K through grade 12 education.

The marks that comprise the Qwest logo are registered trademarks of Qwest Communications International Inc. in the U.S. and certain other countries.