CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Piedmont Natural Gas Foundation has selected Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School teacher and Teach For America corps member Jessica Keally as the recipient of its $1,500 math and science award. Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in expanding educational opportunity. Ms. Keally was selected for her innovative in-school extension of the National Engineers' Week Future City Competition where students design cities using SimCity3000 software. Twenty-six teams of dedicated Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School (MLK) students will participate in the school's simulation software project -- building scale models, writing essays and giving oral presentations on their city's design. The project stresses conservation and the use of recycled goods as it overlaps with March 20, 2007 Earth Day. As a variation on the national competition, Keally is requiring that half of all materials be recycled or reused. "The Future City Competition was so rewarding for my students that I was compelled to hold an in-school competition," said Keally who teaches seventh grade Discovery Science classes. "Our team received a special award for 'Best Use of Power' in creating their city and they learned an amazing amount about energy, the environment, city planning and construction. The most powerful part of the project was watching our students expand and apply our math and science concepts to human issues and I'm anticipating the same positive results here at MLK." Students will meet on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings so a great deal of time will be spent fostering engineering skills such as teamwork, communication and problem solving, with interaction among students, teachers and engineering mentors, practical math and science applications and research and presentation skills. The timeline extends from March 12 when students begin their fuel cell and energy research through the April future city creation and construction and concludes May 16-18 with the MLK Future Cities Competition judging by the engineering mentors. Judges will score the cities based on population, budget, and energy usage and the winners will be announced at the awards ceremony following the competition. Piedmont employees will serve as mentors and facilitators and assist with the engineering aspects of the program such as helping guide construction by accurately scaling building, streets and other city components requiring mathematics and creative implementation. "The Piedmont Foundation is fully aligned with Teach For America's mission of eliminating educational inequality and its vision that one day all children will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education," said George Baldwin, President of the Piedmont Natural Gas Foundation. "Our selection of Jessica Keally fosters and strengthens Teach For America's mission of enlisting our nation's most promising future leaders to teach in classrooms across the country. Teach For America focuses specifically on closing the educational achievement gap that exists between children growing up in low- income communities and those growing up in higher-income areas. We applaud Jessica Keally and the others just like her who are working to make a difference in these communities." The Piedmont Foundation has contributed $76,500 to Teach For America through equal grants of $38,250 in 2006 and 2007 and includes the $1,500 scholarship component to a teacher in the math and sciences field. "Teach For America congratulates Jessica Keally on her award," said Aaliyah El-Amin, executive director of Teach For America in Charlotte. "We are excited by the increased impact we are having on students as a result of science teachers like Ms. Keally. Our partnership with Piedmont Natural Gas is helping to fill an important need in North Carolina, by assisting Teach For America in recruiting, supporting and training outstanding teachers for North Carolina's lowest-income schools." Teach For America operates in two regions in North Carolina, one serving the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community and another serving several counties in rural Eastern North Carolina, including Halifax, North Hampton, and Nash Counties. Today, there are more than 250 corps members helping 21,000 students excel academically in some of North Carolina's most under-served communities. About the Piedmont Natural Gas Foundation The Piedmont Natural Gas Foundation was established in 2004 with initial funding of $7 million from Piedmont Natural Gas. The Piedmont Natural Gas Foundation assists qualified charitable agencies and organizations within Piedmont Natural Gas' three-state service area, through the awarding of grants. Grants are awarded based upon the Foundation's "LEADS" policy which gives preference to qualified organizations that promote and support Literacy and Education, Environmental Stewardship, Assistance with Low-Income Energy Needs, Development of Communities, and Service to Neighbors. About Teach For America Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in expanding educational opportunity. Currently, 4,400 corps members are teaching in over 1,000 schools in 25 regions across the country; more than 12,000 Teach For America alumni continue working from inside and outside the field of education for the fundamental changes necessary to ensure educational excellence and equity. For more information, visit http://www.teachforamerica.org/. DATASOURCE: Piedmont Natural Gas CONTACT: Amy Reynolds, of Piedmont Natural Gas, +1-704-731-4258 Web site: http://www.piedmontng.com/ http://www.teachforamerica.org/

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