Quarry News - Staker & Parson Companies Receives National Award For Communi

by Quarry News

LANHAM, MD – The National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) announced today that Staker & Parson Companies is the winner of the 2004 Community Involvement Award. NAPA presents its Community Involvement Award to Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) companies that serve their communities through outstanding programs and projects.

The company won the award for Rocks Build Our World, an outreach program for elementary schools that the company started in 1997.
“NAPA understands how important it is for the companies in our industry to participate in and support their communities,” said Charles F. Potts, Chairman of the NAPA Board of Directors. “This award reflects the high priority that Staker & Parson Companies places upon its relationship with its neighbors.”
The Rocks Build Our World program includes both group tours of the company’s corporate office facility and classroom visits targeted to fourth graders.

The classroom visits start with some basic information on geology, mining methods and the uses of minerals in every day life. Students then enjoy a “cookie mining” session where they remove the chocolate chips from cookies (while reclaiming their site by placing all crumbs back into a designated area). Winners of this game receive Rocks Build Our World tee shirts and other prizes. Students see a miniature aggregate operation, demonstrating the mining to material production to reclamation process. They also watch the “Rockman” music video. The program ends with a question and answer session. Children are given activity books that highlight Rocky and Sandy, characters created for the program, as they explore the different uses of aggregates in a community.

“We want to educate the public so they understand the necessity of aggregate and their importance in our economy,” explains Patrick Clark, Staker & Parson Companies environmental adviser. “Most people don’t realize that over nine tons of aggregates are produced for every American each year.
Aggregates are integral to our standard of living.” Employee involvement is an important part of the Rocks Build Our World program. Many employees help with the outreach program providing a valuable learning experience for them as well. During the 2003-2004 school year more than 860 students from pre-school age to fourth grade took part in one of these programs. It was also presented to 150 educators and teachers at a symposium sponsored by the National Energy Foundation.

“The reaction has been fantastic,” comments Clark. “When we started, we were contacting the schools and asking them if we could come in and do the presentations. Now we’re at the point where schools are proactive in contacting us. So far in 2005, we have presented the program to over 1,000 students.”

NEWS | PROJECTS | COMMUNITY