Young Audiences of Houston Celebrates New Sustainability Project, Thanks to Green Mountain Energy Sun Club

HOUSTON, October 25, 2022 /3BL Media/ - Young Audiences of Houston and Green Mountain Energy Sun Club came together today to celebrate the new sustainable lab at Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy, made possible by a $50,000 grant from Sun Club.

The Green Mountain Energy Sun Club Living Mural Creativity & Innovation Lab includes an outdoor classroom, a solar panel array, a rainwater recycling system, a Plant Lab, a Colorscape Lab, and a composting system.

Founded in 1956, Young Audiences of Houston is the nation’s leading arts-in-education nonprofit organization, and first organization to be awarded the National Medal of Arts. Young Audiences serves 297,832 children each year through 3,037 programs across Houston and Texas.

"Young Audiences of Houston is enthusiastic about celebrating the Living Mural Creativity + Innovation Lab project, which was made possible through a grant from Green Mountain Energy Sun Club,” stated Mary Curry Mettenbrink, Young Audiences of Houston's executive director. “This innovative project through our Arts + Environment initiative will provide students at Young Women's College Preparatory with a new outdoor space to explore learning, science, and the arts. Students will use the lab to learn the benefits of a community garden as a solution to ecological issues facing their neighborhoods and a means to increase sustainability at a local level.”

Since 2002, Green Mountain Energy Sun Club has been empowering local communities by donating nearly $11.7 million to 143 nonprofit organizations across Texas and the Northeast. Green Mountain Energy invites its customers and employees to contribute and help support projects that promote renewable energy, energy efficiency, resource conservation, and environmental stewardship. This one-of-a-kind model intrinsically ties community engagement to Green Mountain employees and customers.

“Our mission at Green Mountain Energy Sun Club is to advance sustainability by partnering with local organizations to make it easier for them to be environmentally friendly,” said Mark Parsons, vice president and general manager for Green Mountain Energy. “We’re proud to partner with Young Audiences of Houston and can’t wait to see how this project educates the next generation about sustainability.”

The outdoor learning space will act as an incubation hub for students to develop critical environmental awareness and strengthen ties with each other and their community.

"This project amplifies our creative vision where students are provided with new outdoor spaces to learn, explore, and grow through sustainable and environmentally friendly design,” Curry Mettenbrink said. “If anything, this pandemic has taught us that learning can happen anywhere, and this project provides young scholars at the school with a place to explore, innovate, and learn."

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About Young Audiences of Houston
Young Audiences, Inc. of Houston, a Texas nonprofit corporation founded in 1956, is an independent chapter of Young Audiences, Inc., the nation’s leading arts-in-education nonprofit organization, and first organization to be awarded the National Medal of Arts. The organization is the largest provider of arts in education programs and services for youth in Texas.

Now in its 66th year, Young Audiences of Houston implements over 3,037 programs each year with 184 talented artists that reach over 297,832 students and teachers annually at schools, libraries, community centers, and hospitals with limited programming for college and adult continuing education programs, Young Audiences of Houston primarily serves children EC-12th grade within the boundaries of the 51 greater Houston area school districts, including counties of Harris, Montgomery, Liberty, Waller, Brazoria, Matagorda, Fort Bend, Jefferson, Polk, Galveston, Orange, Wharton, Jeff Davis, and Jackson.

About Green Mountain Energy Sun Club
Green Mountain Energy is changing the way power is made and advancing sustainable communities through the work of Green Mountain Energy Sun Club. Since its founding in 2002, Sun Club^® has donated more than $11 million to 143 nonprofit organizations across Texas and the Northeast. Sun Club collaborates with nonprofit organizations on projects that focus on renewable energy, energy efficiency, resource conservation, and environmental stewardship. To learn more about Green Mountain Energy and Sun Club or to apply for a Sun Club grant, visit greenmountain.com/sunclub.

Media Contacts
Green Mountain Energy
Estefanía Joy
713-537-5735
media@greenmountain.com
Twitter: @GreenMtnEnergy

Young Audiences of Houston
Christelyn Nash
713-574-5325
christelyn@yahouston.org