WCNY receives $30,000 from Shineman Foundation for Enterprise America

WCNY announced it has received a $30,000 grant from the Richard S. Shineman Foundation of Oswego to support New York state’s first Enterprise America program. It’s located in WCNY’s new Broadcast and Education Center on Syracuse’s Near Westside.

The funds will help to support the building and operation of Enterprise America, and will offer the chance for Oswego County students to use the program, according to a news release from WCNY, Central New York’s public broadcasting company.

“The Shineman Foundation is excited to partner with WCNY to help bring this innovative, experiential learning program to the Central New York community,” Lauren A. Pistell, executive director of the foundation, said in the release. “We commend WCNY’s dedication to education and are particularly excited that they will be inviting students from Oswego County to learn in the Enterprise America city.”

The Enterprise America program is public broadcasting’s first hands-on experiential learning program, according to the release. Middle-school students take part in “a real-life immersive learning experience focused on STEM (science, technology, education and math) skills, entrepreneurship, and financial and civic literacy. They apply what they learn in their classrooms and become business entrepreneurs, political leaders, employees and consumers in the Enterprise America city and its 14 businesses and City Hall,” the news release stated.

The Richard S. Shineman Foundation is a private foundation established in 2012 by the bequest of its namesake, who was a tenured professor of chemistry at SUNY Oswego. The foundation says it seeks to become a “catalyst for change” across Central New York, especially Oswego County.

Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com