Jan 10, 2001
PPL's Education Relations Director to Chair Adult Literacy Council
PRNewswire
ALLENTOWN, Pa.
Larry Sparta, PPL's education relations director, has been appointed chairman of a Pennsylvania council that coordinates literacy services and promotes literacy awareness for adults statewide.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19981015/PHTH025 )
Appointed by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, Sparta will head up the Adult Basic and Literacy Education Interagency Coordinating Council. The 20-member council represents educators; providers of adult literacy services; business; industry; unions; the media; and state government.
Sparta has served on the council since 1997.
"It is a great privilege to have received this appointment from Gov. Ridge," Sparta said. "It is also a tribute to PPL's leadership and long-standing commitment to improving education for people of all ages wherever the company does business."
He will serve as chairman for three years and preside over his first council meeting today (1/10) in Harrisburg.
"Larry has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to improving literacy in the Commonwealth through his work on the Adult Basic and Literacy Education Interagency Coordinating Council," said George L. Shevlin, the Pennsylvania Department of Education's deputy secretary for post secondary and higher education.
"We are extremely fortunate to have Larry appointed to chair the council and look forward to his leadership in solving an issue that is of such importance to all citizens of the Commonwealth," Shevlin added.
Sparta will help the council coordinate literacy services provided by the state departments of Education, Public Welfare, Labor and Industry and Community and Economic Development. He will also develop programs to inspire adult students to become life-long learners and productive members of their communities.
Through his memberships on state and national education organizations, Sparta has been an advocate of education and learning for many years.
He is chairman of the Pennsylvania Business Roundtable's Workforce Development Task Force. The task force has set statewide strategies that address the state's economic health by concentrating on workforce readiness, career awareness and life-long learning.
He is a member of the Utility Business Education Coalition, a national organization that engages businesses to help improve educational results for students and strengthen local economies. Sparta is also a member of the Pennsylvania Center for Environmental Education Business and Industry Council; chairman of the Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School's Local Advisory Council; and a member of the Lehigh County Career and Technical Institute Steering Committee.
PPL Corp. (NYSE: PPL), headquartered in Allentown, Pa., generates electricity at power plants in Pennsylvania, Maine and Montana; markets wholesale or retail energy in 42 U.S. states and Canada; and delivers electricity to nearly 6 million customers in Pennsylvania, in the United Kingdom and in Latin America.
NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19981015/PHTH025
PRN Photo Desk, 888-776-6555 or 201-369-3467
SOURCE: PPL Corporation
Contact: Larry Sparta of PPL, 610-774-6914 or fax, 610-774-5281
Quick links.