HAMPTON ROADS, Va. (March 24, 2005) – Tidewater Community College recently earned praise and awards for its commitment to the environment through sound planning and educational efforts.

At separate events TCC received awards from the Elizabeth River Project (ERP) and the Chesapeake Environmental Improvement Council (CEIC), a division of Chesapeake Parks and Recreation.

~ ERP’s annual recognition awards elevated TCC to its two-star level, citing the college’s achievement in environmental and habitat preservation practices. There are three levels in ERP’s River Stars program that recognize businesses, government and schools for their work in local pollution prevention and habitat restoration programs.

TCC reached the second level, Achievement, by developing a comprehensive pollution-prevention plan that addresses recycling and resource conservation for the Chesapeake Campus.

~ CEIC honored TCC with the 2004 Education Award, given for the college’s commitment to enhance the wetland environment found on its Chesapeake Campus. TCC earth-friendly activities included the first annual Earth Day Celebration on April 22, 2004; planting of a wildflower meadow with 50 native wildflower plants; a campus-wide cleanup that collected up to 600 lbs. of litter and debris; deepening its relationship with ERP; and attaining in July 2004 the first category of certification in the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program.

Also noted, the college has begun creating a nature trail on an undeveloped portion of the Chesapeake Campus and will place educational signage identifying plant species. The trail provides biology students a chance to experience a local wetland system.

The CEIC also honored TCC media specialist Roger Fuller with its Communications Award.

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Tidewater Community College is the second largest of the 23 community colleges in the Commonwealth of Virginia, enrolling more than 35,000 students annually. The 37th largest in the nation’s 1,600 community-college network, TCC ranks among the 50 fastest-growing large community colleges. Founded in 1968 as a part of the Virginia Community College System, the college serves the South Hampton Roads region with campuses in Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach as well as the TCC Jeanne and George Roper Performing Arts Center in the theater district in downtown Norfolk, the Visual Arts Center in Olde Towne Portsmouth and a regional Advanced Technology Center in Virginia Beach. Forty-four percent of the region’s residents attending a college or university in Virginia last fall were enrolled at TCC. For more information, visit www.tcc.edu