Parkland High School teacher Sean Flueso has been chosen to receive a $1,000 PPL Foundation grant.

In addition to Flueso, Jessica Mauro of Alburtis Elementary School; Lori Cirucci of Broughal Middle School, Bethlehem; and Mark Shellaway of Freemansburg Elementary, Bethlehem, will spark students’ imaginations with creative science and technology projects this school year - with financial support from the PPL Foundation’s Empowering Educators program.

The teachers were among 25 educators in eastern and central Pennsylvania selected to receive $1,000 each as recipients of 2017 Empowering Educators grants from the PPL Foundation.

The Empowering Educators program is designed to help kindergarten through twelfth grade teachers provide hands-on learning opportunities to enhance the classroom experience and spark students’ interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

“PPL is a long-standing supporter of STEM programs in the communities where we do business, and we’re pleased that the PPL Foundation supports these creative approaches to making STEM subjects come alive in the classroom,” said Carol Obando-Derstine, regional affairs director for the Lehigh Valley.

Since the program’s inception in 2003, the PPL Foundation has awarded more than $205,000 to more than 140 teachers in schools in central and eastern Pennsylvania.

The teams will celebrate their completed projects during a reception in June 2018.