The Gus A. Stavros Center for Free Enterprise and Economic Education received a $40,000 gift from Coca-Cola Beverages Florida to support Sustainability Superheroes, a professional development program that provides Florida teachers with sustainability training, mentorship and resources.
The Sustainability Superheroes initiative was launched in 2019 through a $200,500 grant from The Coca-Cola Foundation. To date, the program has empowered nearly 1,300 teachers to creatively introduce and incorporate sustainability topics into their school curriculum based on Florida teaching standards. The gift from Coca-Cola Beverages Florida will support ongoing professional development workshops on key sustainability initiatives, including recycling, water stewardship, litter and waste reduction and resiliency.
“Sustainability is one of our core community pillars at Coke Florida,” said Erin Black, Coca-Cola Beverages Florida’s vice president of sustainability, risk management and facilities. “As the local Coca-Cola bottler, we are committed to investing in our communities by providing tools and opportunities for educators to learn and teach others how to lead a more sustainable life. Their students are our next generation of environmental leaders.”
The gift from Coca-Cola Beverages Florida will support ongoing professional development workshops on key sustainability initiatives, including recycling, water stewardship, litter and waste reduction and resiliency.
“The ongoing contributions will allow the Stavros Center to have a statewide impact in enhancing the instructional skills of K-12 educators in areas related to sustainability,” said Dick J. Puglisi, PhD, chair and director of the Gus A. Stavros Center. “Although the USF Stavros Center’s regional impact is a six-county/school district area, the partnership with Coca-Cola Beverages Florida gives educators throughout Florida the opportunity to integrate sustainability concepts into their curriculum by participating in these professional development sessions.”
Housed in the USF College of Education, the Gus A. Stavros Center works to advance
the effective teaching and integration of free enterprise, financial literacy and
economic education into the
K-20 curricula. For more than 40 years, the center has provided quality professional
development to educators in a variety of areas relating to free enterprise and the
global economy.
“The Stavros Center is the premier destination for educators seeking professional development, training or support to effectively teach their students about free enterprise, economics and the global economy,” said R. Anthony Rolle, PhD, dean of the USF College of Education. “The Sustainability Superheroes initiative is a wonderful example of how the Stavros Center works with business partners in the community to teach essential financial skills to today’s students. We are incredibly grateful to Coca-Cola Beverages Florida for their support of this innovative program.”