News

08.03.06

Pitney Bowes Literacy and Education Fund Donates
$1 Million to Connecticut Science Center

New Children’s Gallery to feature Walter Wick’s
“Can you see?” images; donation to extend
Science Center access to children in need

HARTFORD, CT – (August 3, 2006) – The Connecticut Science Center today announced a $1 million donation from the Pitney Bowes Literacy and Education Fund. Through its generous gift, Stamford-based Pitney Bowes is making possible the Pitney Bowes Literacy and Education Fund Children’s Gallery at the new Science Center. In addition, the gift will establish a special program to collaborate with urban communities and charter schools to assure that all children in Connecticut can benefit from the Center’s educational programs.

“As a Connecticut company founded on thriving through innovation, Pitney Bowes believes scientific literacy is central to the well-being of our state,” said Michael Critelli, Chairman & CEO of Pitney Bowes and a member of the Connecticut Science Center’s Board of Trustees. “We are very pleased to be able to help assure access to this vital new resource for the children who need it the most, and to contribute to the Children’s Gallery, where our youngest citizens will be introduced to the wonders of science.”

The Pitney Bowes Literacy and Education Fund Children's Gallery will feature an interactive display designed in collaboration with Hartford-based photographer and artist Walter Wick, who’s famous “I Spy” and “Can you see?” search-and-find books are treasured by children around the world. The gallery will feature selected Wick images that draw children into the fundamental scientific process of search and discovery in a beautiful environment.

“With its exciting water play area, our search-and-find activities, and a children’s reading nook, the Children’s Gallery will inspire a sense of wonder and curiosity, and offer children opportunities to develop the real skills that they’ll use to learn, solve and create for the rest of their lives,” said Wick, who is also a member of the Center’s Board of Trustees.

The Center also announced that the gallery’s Science Reading Nook will be co-programmed with the Hartford Public Library, and that the Pitney Bowes Literacy and Education Fund grant will provide special Science Center passes for the library’s use in promoting and rewarding reading activities among Hartford children. The library’s children’s reading specialists will work with Science Center staff to select age-appropriate, current and educational science books for the Science Reading Nook, and provide opportunities for children who want to extend their reading to additional books.

“With our own library expansion, and the Science Center as our new neighbor, the children of Hartford and our region are going to be endowed with a very special combination of learning opportunities,” said Louise Blalock, Chief Librarian at the Hartford Public Library. “This is the beginning of a partnership that will allow us to introduce more children to the joys and benefits of learning.”

The grant will also ensure that the Center has resources to provide science education programs in many of the state's neediest communities. With the support of the Pitney Bowes Literacy and Education Fund, the Center will be able to develop a broad array of educational offerings, including classroom-based and kit-based programs, after-school programs, professional development and specialized programs for teachers and students in Charter schools. These programs will serve to enhance and reinforce the center-based efforts to improve science education, and where possible, funding will be made available to underwrite the cost of class trips to the Center for schools in low-income communities. Special attention will also be given to the unique needs and learning potential of the state’s Charter Schools.

The Children’s Gallery will be located on the first floor of the new Science Center, and will be the first gallery seen when visitors enter the exhibit halls from the grand Science Alley lobby. The gallery is designed as an intimate and magical area in which familiar objects and phenomena take on new meaning when seen and experienced in new ways. The stylized water garden will draw children into a series of spontaneous water play activities, using pools, jets, vortex pools and mist, combined with floating objects. Walter Wick's mural size, specially designed photographic display will challenge children to games of visual discrimination of the kind found in his popular books, many of them already well known to children from book collections at home and in the Reading Nook.

“We are constantly amazed and gratified by the people and passion that this project enjoys, and to combine the resources and vision of Pitney Bowes with the creativity of Walter Wick, the capabilities of the Hartford Public Library, and our exhibit design team is a great example of how special that can be,” said Dr. Ted Sergi, President of the Connecticut Science Center. “We are enormously grateful for the commitment of Pitney Bowes to the children of our state, especially those in our cities who have as much potential as anyone to succeed, when given these opportunities.”

Connecticut Science Center
The Connecticut Science Center, now under construction at Adriaen’s Landing in Hartford, will spark creative imagination and an appreciation for science by immersing visitors in fun and educational hands-on, interactive experiences. The Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing science education throughout the state of the Connecticut, providing learning opportunities for students and adults of all ages, and engaging the community in scientific exploration. Details, images, news releases and live webcam are available online at www.ctsciencecenter.org.

Pitney Bowes/Literacy Fund
Global economic and social well-being depends on the capacity for all individuals to effectively contribute to our economy and our communities. Through the Pitney Bowes Literacy & Education Fund’s investments in literacy, Pitney Bowes is making an impact on this critical issue by strengthening and diversifying the pool of potential employees for companies worldwide, and by helping individuals to achieve a higher quality of life and make their best contribution to society.

Contacts:

Connecticut Science Center
Michelle Morales – (860) 727-0457 x116

Pitney Bowes
Matthew Broder - (203) 351-6347

Photos

	Pitney Bowes Chairman & CEO, Mike Critelli, and photographer Walter Wick get some help working out one of Wick's puzzles at the Hartford Public Library, where Critelli announced a $1 million gift to the Connecticut Science Center. The gift will fund the Pitney Bowes Children's Gallery and a partnership between the Center and the Library. Click to download.
	Connecticut Science Center president, Ted Sergi, and Hartford school children accept a $1 million gift from Pitney Bowes chairman & CEO Mike Critelli. The Pitney Bowes Literacy & Education Fund is sponsoring the science center's Children's Gallery. Click to download.
	Mike Critelli, chairman & CEO of Pitney Bowes presents a Science Pass to Catherine D'Italia of the Hartford Public Library. The Pitney Bowes Literacy & Education Fund is donating $1 million to the Science Center to create a children's gallery and extend the Center's services to children statewide. Click to download
	Mike Critelli, chairman & CEO of Pitney Bowes, leads a group of children in activities after announcing that the Pitney Bowes Literacy & Education Fund will donate $1 million to create a Children's Gallery at the new science center in Hartford. Click to download.
	Artist's rendering of the Pitney Bowes Literacy & Education Fund Children's Gallery. Click to download.