AT&T Contribution, Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo Inspire Young Environmentalists

Students from Van Buren Middle School will be working with Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo to protect Florida’s endangered wildlife and other natural resources, thanks to a contribution from AT&T to create the Zoo’s Teens4TampaBay program.

The contribution of $25,000 will support the program, an after-school science club at Van Buren that will inspire teens to become agents of change for the environment and their communities.

Students will participate in hands-on learning about the challenges Florida wildlife faces and about ways they can make a positive impact in their communities. Teens will learn about topics such as Florida’s biodiversity, the impact people have on the environment and how to protect and preserve natural resources. Club members will be recruited across all science classes at Van Buren to participate in the after-school program.

“We are thrilled to have received this contribution from AT&T for the Teens4TampaBay program, which we believe will give these young science students a sense of empowerment, and turn them into lifelong advocates for the environment,” said Mark G. Haney, Vice President of Advancement at Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo. “We can’t wait to start working with them.”

In its first year, the project will center on the Zoo’s Whooping Cranes, and the recently renovated Florida Aviary. Whooping Cranes are one of the 10 Signature S.A.F.E (Saving Animals From Extinction) species selected by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. These birds rely on wetland habitats just north of the Tampa Bay Community in which these students live. Students will develop a holistic understanding of how their actions affect our environment, and how humans and animals depend on wetlands and other natural resources.