LaGuardia Gateway Partners (LGP), the manager and developer of LaGuardia Airport’s award-winning Terminal B, today announced Queens Zoo as the recipient of the second annual B-INSPIRED STEM Grant in collaboration with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The $15,000 grant will support the institution’s “STEM Starters,” an early childhood science education program that brings bilingual, experiential STEM learning to PreK-3 students in Queens communities near the Queens Zoo.
The funding will help expand the program to two additional PreK-3 schools in Corona, Queens, reaching more than 100 additional students through science-based classroom programming, teacher professional development workshops, and family STEM learning experiences at the Queens Zoo.
The Queens Zoo is one of five Wildlife Conservation Society parks (others being the Bronx Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, Central Park Zoo and the New York Aquarium) in New York City. The Queens Zoo, inspiring thousands annually to care about nature, helps advance the WCS mission to save wildlife and wild places. A tribute to American animals, the 20-acre Zoo features pathways that lead visitors to pockets of wild habitats, from the Great Plains to a rocky California coast to a Northeast forest.
LGP and the Port Authority commend the Queens Zoo for its commitment to making science and conservation accessible to local communities, inspiring the next generation of STEM professionals, and providing meaningful learning resources to children, families, and educators.
“We are thrilled to support Queens Zoo and its innovative STEM Starters program,” said Suzette Noble, CEO of LaGuardia Gateway Partners. “By providing bilingual, hands-on science learning opportunities to young students in Queens, they are helping spark curiosity and build confidence in STEM from an early age. This program reflects exactly what the B-INSPIRED STEM Grant was created to achieve, expanding local access to meaningful educational experiences that inspire the next generation.”
“Since the transformation of LaGuardia Airport began nearly a decade ago, the Port Authority and our private partners, LaGuardia Gateway Partners and Delta Air Lines, have shared a commitment to provide educational opportunities in aviation and STEM for students in the surrounding communities,” said Hersh Parekh, Deputy Chief of Intergovernmental Affairs at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. “We thank LaGuardia Gateway Partners for continuing to invest in our host communities with this second annual $15,000 grant to support the early childhood science education program at the Queens Zoo.”
“STEM Starters reflects our belief that science belongs to everyone — especially our youngest New Yorkers,” said Karen Tingley, Vice President of Education at WCS. “At the Queens Zoo, we see every education program, every animal observation, and every question as a chance to deepen a child’s connection to the natural world. We’re proud to bring this program to Pre-K classrooms across Corona, Queens, where hands-on discovery lays the foundation for a lifetime of learning.”
The B-INSPIRED STEM Grant program underscores LGP’s and the Port Authority’s ongoing commitment to the Queens community and STEM education. By supporting local organizations, LGP and the Port Authority aim to create lasting positive impacts on the borough’s educational landscape and future workforce.
Last year, NYC FIRST, Inc. was selected as the inaugural recipient and used the funding to support robotics competitions and STEM opportunities for students at Queens high schools.
