Science Classrooms Nationwide Receive $550,000 From Toyota Tapestry Grant Program

Science Classrooms Nationwide Receive $550,000 From Toyota Tapestry Grant
Program

TORRANCE, Calif., March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Inc.
recognized 78 science teachers from across the country this weekend with
$550,000 in grants via the Toyota TAPESTRY: Grants for Science Teachers
program at the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) National
Conference on Science Education in Boston, Mass. At the conference, Toyota
also received recognition for its significant contribution toward the
construction of a new, state-of-the-art science education center in Arlington,
Va. and corresponding Web-based resource portal to be used by science teachers
nationwide.
As the nation's largest science teacher grant program, Toyota TAPESTRY
selected 78 proposals for funding from the more than 500 submitted by K-12
teachers. The projects funded by the Toyota TAPESTRY program will be
implemented in classrooms beginning in June 2008.
Of the $550,000 granted, 50 teachers received up to $10,000 each and 28
received grants of up to $2,500 each. More than $8 million has been awarded to
986 teams of teachers throughout the program's 18-year history.
"My TAPESTRY grant provided the resources to nurture and cultivate
students' interest in nature into a lifelong passion," said Angie Meadows, a
past TAPESTRY grant recipient and Wilmington, Delaware kindergarten teacher.
"A love of science cannot be taught -- students have to experience it. The
Toyota TAPESTRY Program gives teachers what we really need -- the resources to
share our love of science with kids."
Through the TAPESTRY program, Toyota awards grants to innovative teachers
each year. Judges, accomplished in various areas of science, select projects
that stand out in creativity, risk-taking and originality in three areas:
environmental science, physical science and integrating literacy and science.
This year's projects explore topics ranging from an atmospheric research
rocket to studies of endangered and endemic species.
"It's extremely rewarding to support educators who bring quality science
to our children," said Michael Rouse, Toyota's corporate manager of
philanthropy and community affairs. "TAPESTRY was designed to directly impact
the children and improve science learning opportunities and over the past 18
years, we've truly had the opportunity to do just that."
Toyota's $1.5 million donation to the NSTA's Center for Science Education
will go toward building the proposed LEED-certified Toyota Science Education
Conference and Training Center in Arlington, Va., with completion slated for
2010. The center will offer summer workshops, symposia, research dissemination
conferences and teacher leadership programs designed to keep science educators
well-informed of new insights, methods and research in science teaching. The
Toyota funds will also assist in creating the online NSTA Learning Center,
which will include thousands of standards-based resources to inform the
curriculum of science teachers across the nation.
Toyota TAPESTRY is open to elementary, middle and high school science
teachers in the United States and its territories, including the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico. Teachers may apply individually or in teams. Applications are
submitted online and are due in January each year. For more information about
Toyota TAPESTRY grants, visit http://www.nsta.org/programs/tapestry or call
(800) 807-9852.
The following teachers are recipients of 2008 TAPESTRY grants:

STATE SCHOOL CITY

ALABAMA
Anthony Derriso* Mountain Brook High School Birmingham
Beth Howard* Paine Primary School Trussville
Jacqueline Lampley* Hillview Elementary School Birmingham

ALASKA
Tim Lundt* Mat-Su Career & Technical
High School Wasilla
Andrea Pokrzywinski Lower Kuskokwim School District Bethel
Sheryl Sotelo* McNeil Canyon Elementary School Homer

ARIZONA
Paul J. McElligott* Fountain Hills High School Fountain Hills

ARKANSAS
Amanda Hinds Lincoln Junior High School Bentonville

CALIFORNIA
Brian J. Boyle* Mare Island Technology Academy Vallejo
Dominique Evans* Clark Magnet High School La Crescenta
Trina Lee* Rocklin High School Rocklin
Russell "Myles"
Loveall* Lakewood High School Lakewood
Steve Simpson* Sierra Ridge Middle School Pollock Pines

CONNECTICUT
Michael Dietter Northwest Village School Plainville

GEORGIA
Gloria Ivery-Holmes Leslie J. Steele Elementary School Decatur

FLORIDA
William Bartenslager* Palm Beach Central High School Wellington
Judith "Lynne"
Boucher* Ralph Williams Elementary Rockledge
Linda C. Johnson* West Shore Jr./Sr. High School Melbourne
Sean Sand A.L. Mebane Middle School Alachua
Patricia Swen Blue Lake Elementary DeLand
William Underly Saint Cloud Elementary School Saint Cloud

ILLINOIS
Brian Sievers Thornridge High School Dolton
Diana Sturtevant Carl Von Linne Elementary School Chicago

INDIANA
Art Klinger* Penn High School Mishawaka
Charles Kevin Roush* Brown County Junior High School Nashville

IOWA
Hector Ibarra* West Branch Middle School West Branch

KANSAS
Dennis Eickhoff Frank Bergman Elementary School Manhattan

LOUISIANA
Susan Yerino Woodvale Elementary School Lafayette

MAINE
Dave Estes Mt. View High School Thorndike

MASSACHUSETTS
Matthew Hart* Magnificat Academy & Choir School Warren
Anne Hess-Mahan Bishop Elementary School Arlington

MICHIGAN
Randall Cook* Tri County High School Howard City
Connie Crittenden Explorer Elementary School Williamston
Michael Sinclair Kalamazoo Area Math &
Science Center Kalamazoo

MISSOURI
Wendy Reis* Stanton Elementary School Fenton
Louise Smith* Brashear Elementary Brashear
Steve Vonderfecht Lathrop R-II Lathrop

MONTANA
Melissa Henthorn Hellgate High School Missoula
Wendy Pierce* Chief Joseph Middle School Bozeman

NORTH CAROLINA
Darrell Glenn Coston* Dillard Middle School Goldsboro
Candace Leverette Aycock Middle School Greensboro
Tracy Shisler* Cape Hatteras Secondary School Buxton
Katie C. Tatum* Terrell Lane Middle School Louisburg

NEVADA
Maria Cieslak Gene Ward Elementary Las Vegas

NEW JERSEY
Maureen B. Barrett* Harrington Middle School Mt. Laurel
Nicole Cerqueira* Salem County Vocational
Technical School Woodstown
Carol Loftus Holland Township School Milford

NEW MEXICO
Carolyn Nesbitt Manzano Day School Albuquerque

NEW YORK
Carol Burch Hannibal Central School Hannibal
Nicole Dixson* Greenwich Central School Greenwich
Soo Feingold* Mary McDowell Center for Learning Brooklyn
Patricia A. Gill* PS 115 Daniel Mucatel School Brooklyn
Rebecca Grella Brentwood High School Brentwood
Kenneth L. Huff * Mill Middle School Williamsville
Scott Krebbeks * Lima Middle School Honeoye Falls
Leonard Pizza* P.S. 142 New York
Maribel Pregnall* Arlington High School LaGrangeville

OHIO
Tracy Allen Madeira Elementary School Madeira
Ed Ingman* Charles School at Ohio
Dominican University Columbus

OKLAHOMA
Terri Cloyde* Madill Elementary School Madill

OREGON
Michael Baird Enterprise High School Enterprise
Graham Dey* West Salem High School Salem
Maureen Foelkl* Chapman Hill Elementary Salem
Linda Kehr* Ferguson Elementary Klamath Falls

SOUTH CAROLINA
Debbie Blackmon New Directions School Columbia
Patricia K. Morris* Strom Thurmond High School Johnston

SOUTH DAKOTA
Steven Slough* St. Thomas More High School Rapid City

TEXAS
William R. Claughton* Krueger Middle School San Antonio
Alexander S. Graham* Pasadena Memorial High School Pasadena
Sheila Ochoa* Little Bay Primary Rockport
Kristi Wakefield K.B. Polk Vanguard Elementary Dallas

VIRGINIA
Catherine Roberts* Western Branch Middle School Chesapeake
Laurie Sullivan Kate Waller Barrett Elementary Arlington

WASHINGTON
Randall S. James* North Central High School Spokane

WEST VIRGINIA
Nancy Moore* Spencer Middle School Spencer

WISCONSIN
Patrick Pape Pardeeville Middle School Pardeeville
Dan Rosa* Arrowhead Union High School Hartland

WYOMING
Joel M. Kuper* Greybull High School Greybull

* Indicates a $10,000 grant recipient
All others are $2,500 grant recipients

About Toyota's Education Programs
In addition to sponsoring a number of nonprofit educational organizations,
Toyota offers three major programs that support teachers with grants and
students with scholarships; Toyota Community Scholars, which provides 100
scholarships to high school seniors based on academics and community service;
the Toyota International Teacher Program, a study-abroad program for secondary
teachers in Costa Rica and the Galapagos Islands; and Toyota TAPESTRY.
Toyota also supports scholarships through the Hispanic Scholarship Fund;
United Negro College Fund; Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation; National FFA
and the American Indian College Fund. In 2007, Toyota USA contributed $57
million to U.S. philanthropic programs, with a majority of funding supporting
education. For more information, visit http://www.toyota.com/community or
contact kathy_mota@toyota.com.
About Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc. is the marketing, sales,
distribution and customer service arm of Toyota, Lexus and Scion. Established
in 1957, TMS markets products and services through a network of more than
1,400 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealers. Toyota directly employs over 36,000
people in the U.S. and sold more than 2.6 million vehicles in 2007. For more
information about our company, please visit http://www.toyota.com/,
http://www.lexus.com/ and http://www.scion.com/.
About National Science Teachers Association
The Arlington, VA-based National Science Teachers Association is the
largest professional organization in the world promoting excellence and
innovation in science teaching and learning for all. NSTA's current
membership includes more than 57,000 science teachers, science supervisors,
administrators, scientists, business and industry representatives, and others
involved in science education.
Media Contact:
Lyndsey Payzant
GolinHarris for Toyota
(213) 438-8753
lpayzant@golinharris.com

SOURCE Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Inc.

Lyndsey Payzant of GolinHarris, +1-213-438-8753, lpayzant@golinharris.com, for
Toyota