Local school districts receive Chevron grant money
Chevron Appalachia is investing $1 million into Science, Technology, Engineering and Math programs in school districts throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. Washington, Greene and Fayette counties will see much of the grant money.
In Washington County, Trinity Area School District will receive $50,000, and Brownsville will receive $10,000 to continue Project Lead the Way, a nonprofit that provides STEM programming for grades K-12.
“They’re very generous,” Trinity Superintendent Michael Lucas said. “They gave us $105,000 to start this up two years ago, and now we’re able to keep it rolling.”
Trinity plans to distribute the $50,000 to its four elementary schools and its middle school. Lucas said the money will be used for additional STEM activities, professional development for teachers, and to enhance coding and app development programs at the middle school.
In Greene County, Jefferson-Morgan and Central Greene school districts will each receive $10,000, Central Greene for its middle school and Jefferson-Morgan for its middle/high school.
Jefferson-Morgan Superintendent Joseph Orr said his district is “wrapping up” a Project Lead the Way grant it received from Chevron a couple years ago.
“It really got us going in our direction of engineering and computer science,” he said. “They’ve been phenomenal in recognizing the need for STEM education.”
This grant will allow Jefferson-Morgan to continue to expand engineering programs at the middle and high schools, Orr said.
“This allows smaller districts like us to really go out on a venture that normally we might not be able to do,” he said.
Albert Gallatin Area School District received the most money, $160,000, which will be distributed throughout its five elementary schools and two middle schools.
High school Principal Jason Hutchinson said they received a Project Lead the Way grant for an engineering program at the high school four years ago. This grant will allow them to start that type of programming in earlier grade levels.
“We want the foundation to begin to grow at the middle schools and elementary schools,” he said. “We’re extremely excited to start this journey and to be able to expose students at a younger age to Project Lead the Way.”
In grades three to five, the curriculum will be introduced in science classes, Hutchinson said. He said one middle school teacher will spend half the year at one middle school and the second half at the other to teach a STEM class.
“It gives every child a taste of the STEM curriculum,” said Alison Ondik, a high school teacher.
Hutchinson said that if younger students develop a passion for STEM subjects, the district’s goal is to help those students gain “enthusiasm to stay there and then build on that.”
“We are extremely excited and want to thank Chevron for the opportunity,” he said.
Other Fayette County districts to receive grant money are Belle Vernon, Connellsville, Frazier and Laurel Highlands.
“Energy and advanced manufacturing present long-term economic growth opportunities for this region, and Chevron is committed to helping ensure today’s students are prepared for the high-tech, in-demand careers of tomorrow,” Trip Oliver, Chevron Appalachia policy, government and public affairs manager, said in a news release. “That starts with investing in innovative approaches to learning to ensure that every district, especially in rural communities, has strong science, technology, engineering and math curriculum.”