Arch Coal Foundation Announces Second Annual Innovative Teaching Grants Program for...

Arch Coal Foundation Announces Second Annual Innovative Teaching Grants
Program for Delta County Schools

SOMERSET, Colo., May 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Arch Coal Foundation
will again award Delta County teachers grants to support innovative teaching
ideas in the 2008-2009 school year.
The announcement was made by Pete Wyckoff, general manager of Mountain
Coal Company and its West Elk mine.
"In our initial year, 20 teachers from around the county were awarded
grants totaling almost $10,000," said Wyckoff. "These grants covered unique
ideas that ranged from biology to reading, from poetry to environment.
"Our program tests ideas that improve education," said Wyckoff. "The most
powerful aspect of our teaching grants program is the merging of the expertise
and experience of area classroom teachers with the financial assistance to
bring about new and innovative ways to spark student learning."
Grant materials for next year have been delivered to each school in the
county and distributed to teachers, according to Wyckoff. For additional
copies or information about the program, please call (970) 929-2303. An
electronic grant application is available at
http://www.archcoal.com/community/teachinggrants.asp.
Wyckoff noted that the grants program is available only to Delta County
classroom teachers, including those who received grants in the first year.
"We are looking forward to receiving a whole host of new ideas this year,"
explained Wyckoff. "Some teachers may have found that their initial grants
from this school year need to be further refined or modified to obtain better
results, such as enhanced reading skills or higher level understanding of
science. Because our goal is to increase learning, we believe allowing
follow-up grant requests will encourage the further refinement of new teaching
approaches."
The grant applications are due Sept. 12, 2008, which will allow teachers
plenty of time to develop their ideas during the school year, according to
Wyckoff. A panel of judges, comprised of Mountain Coal personnel, educators
and community members, will meet soon after the deadline to determine the
grant recipients, and a banquet to celebrate the 2008 grant recipients is
expected later this fall.
Arch Coal, Inc. is one of the nation's largest coal producers. Arch Coal's
Mountain Coal Company and its West Elk mine employ almost 450 people in Delta
County, Colo. The company's core business is providing U.S. power generators
with cleaner-burning, low-sulfur coal for electric generation. Through its
national network of mines, Arch Coal supplies the fuel for approximately
6 percent of the electricity generated in the United States. The company is
listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: ACI) and maintains its corporate
headquarters in St. Louis.
SOURCE Arch Coal, Inc.

Kim Link of Arch Coal, Inc., +1-314-994-2936