Indy 500 Winner Scott Dixon visits Day Nursery Northwest

2008 Indianapolis 500 Winner Scott Dixon visited the Day Nursery Northwest Center yesterday thanks to our friends at PNC’s Grow Up Great program. Dixon read a story about counting with race cars followed by a question and answer session with the preschool and kindergarten classes. The students wanted to know how old Dixon is and why there was smoke coming from one of the race cars in the story. Dixon presented the center with a mini race car which the students will be able to take apart and learn more about how it works. The racing related activities are part of PNC’s initiative to bring STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) activities to preschoolers across the country. The same group of students will get to tour the Target Chip Ganassi Racing facility on May 10.

Day Nursery Ft. Harrison preschoolers go behind the scenes at theatre

About 250 Day Nursery preschoolers are participating in the Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre‘s Backstage Pass program, compliments of PNC Bank’s Grow Up Great Initiative. Each of the 7 Day Nursery centers took a field trip to Carmel for a personal peek behind the scenes of the theatre which is part of the Center for the Performing Arts. These pictures are from Tuesday with our Start Smart 4 Children early learning center at Ft. Harrison Center students. Our tour guides were Brent E. Marty – Director of Music & Education and Holly Stults – Associate Director of Education. Check out our pictures and take a little tour with us.

Day Nursery Thankful Thursday: Summer Fun

Day Nursery Federal Center students enjoyed meeting Mother Goose after the performance at The Civic Theatre this week.

Hello summer!

Our children are enjoying the sunshine and have some great activities planned for the summer.

We are grateful to PNC, the Lilly Endowment Summer Grant and the Shaw Burckhardt Brenner Foundation for providing some of our summer activities including a trip to the Civic Theatre to see “Once Upon a Shoe“, Ruth Lilly Health Education Center, an Indianapolis Indians game and summer water and safety swim lessons at the IU Natatorium.

PNC Indianapolis elves share Christmas spirit with Day Nursery Northwest Center

‘Twas the week before Christmas and the elves at the PNC Financial Services Group  were busy collecting items to fill gift bags for Day Nursery children.  PNC Client & Community Relations Manager elf, Nicole Duncan sent a message that her co-workers at their downtown Indianapolis office had collected  64 bags filled with toothbrushes, tooth paste, shampoo, soap,  stuffed animals, blankets, hats, gloves and pajamas to share with the children at the center.  Day Nursery Northwest Center  Director Marla Segal and Assistant Director Deanna Saylor distributed the bags to several families including the center’s preschool and kindergarten classes before the Christmas break.  As you can see by the pictures, the children were delighted that Santa came early to their center.  Thanks to our friends at PNC who are always looking for new ways to help Day Nursery children “Grow Up Great!”

PNC employees volunteer to help Indianapolis children Grow Up Great

This year, thousands of PNC employees from across the country will enter local early childhood education centers and programs to interact with children, teach financial literacy seminars, assist with site renovations and accomplish much more. Today, at the Day Nursery Ruth A. Lilly Center, 3522 N. Central Avenue, we were lucky to benefit from this giant wave of volunteerism as area PNC employees kicked off local projects to help Indianapolis children Grow Up Great. Today eleven volunteers spent 4 hours bagging leaves and preparing the center’s two playgrounds for the return of spring. After a tour of the center to meet the children and staff, the volunteers headed outside. Part of the work today included preparing the earth for the children’s vegetable garden.  Volunteers promised the children they would be back to help them launch their annual garden after the last freeze of the season.

Grow Up Great is PNC’s unprecedented 10-year, $100 million investment designed to help prepare young children, from birth to age five, for school and life.  This long-term commitment promises to bring volunteers to all of our seven Day Nursery locations.

Through the program—which started in 2004—PNC is working to improve the lives of children and their families as well as strengthen communities. To reach this goal, PNC is investing both financial support and time from employee volunteers—a major key to Grow Up Great’s success.