Feature News

MONROEVILLE, Pa., Nov. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Westinghouse Electric Company today announced the 2008/2009 winners of its "N-Visioning a Brighter Future" grant program, which awards funding to middle and high schools for creative, hands-on projects.

Administered by the company's speakers bureau, N-Vision, the grant program is designed to encourage both teachers and students to develop projects based on energy, math, science or technology.

The competition is open to all middle and high schools in communities in which Westinghouse has a presence. Five schools are awarded $1,000 each to carry out their proposed projects. Winners of the 2008/2009 grants are:

-- American School for the Deaf, West Hartford, Conn.

Students will travel to Rocky Neck State Park, an estuary ecosystem, and collect samples to compare them to past samples taken for an ongoing comparative study, in relation to evidence of organism population and possible evidence of hypoxic conditions.

-- McKeesport High School, McKeesport, Pa.

The "Treasure Island" project will educate students on some of the things we waste in everyday life that could potentially be treasure troves of energy.

-- Seneca Valley Haines Middle School, Cranberry Township, Pa.

Students will participate in a variety of activities related to learning about the structure of the atom, elements of the periodic table, behavior of specific elements, strong force, nuclear energy from atoms, nuclear power pros and cons, and nuclear power and the environment.

-- Hopewell High School, Aliquippa, Pa.

Students will benefit from a hands-on project called "Math Space," an outdoor learning area that will have pergola seating within the confines of an underdeveloped part of the school courtyard. The completion of the project will provide the students will great pride while teaching them a myriad of math skills and concepts. This project may spark a career interest in design, landscaping or architecture.

-- Glade Run Lutheran Services, Zelienople, Pa.

Students will learn about the watershed environment and begin to observe physical characteristics of a local stream. In April, students will gather all the data and analyze it to determine the health of the stream.

Westinghouse, a group company of Toshiba Corporation, is the world's pioneering nuclear power company and is a leading supplier of nuclear plant products and technologies to utilities throughout the world. Westinghouse technology today is the basis for approximately one-half of the world's operating nuclear plants.