Caltex gifts STEM equipment to public high schools

MANILA, Philippines – Even as we hear of tales of Pinoys distinguishing themselves in various disciplines on the global stage, our people can definitely do better. An increasing number of voices are particularly ruing the sorry state of our education in the subjects of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in public schools.

With this in mind, Chevron Philippines, Inc. (CPI), marketer of Caltex-brand fuels and lubricants, gave a leg up to some 3,000 needy public high schoolers with the donation of STEM materials and equipment that should facilitate instruction in the aforementioned subjects.

Under the banner of the Caltex Fuel Your School (FYS), “a global Chevron social investment program” which debuted this year, a target kitty of P5 million was targeted and achieved with the help of Caltex customers. Chevron donated a peso for each four-liter fuel purchase made in any of 153 Caltex stations in Metro Manila, Rizal, and Cavite.

In a statement, Chevron said the amount “funded the 28 STEM classroom proposals that were shortlisted by program partner American Chamber Foundation as submitted by 27 of the 33 schools pre-selected by DepEd as schools most in need of support in Metro Manila.”

Comprising the STEM donation to schools were laboratory equipment, engineering kits, scientific calculators, laptops, tablets, and multi-media projectors. Teacher/project proponent Reynaldo Cordova of Pasay City’s Kalayaan High School, one of the beneficiary schools, explained in a release: “(These] brand-new electronics and technical apparatus will help realize the dreams of the poorest of the poor students (of Kalayaan High School) of becoming free from poverty.”

Meanwhile, students of Pasay City South High School were elated with the donation of 303 new scientific calculators through the program. Teacher/project proponent Jonalyn Suzara related how the scholars complained over their previous simple calculators without the capability to perform logarithmic computations.

Reports on this kind of immediate impact echoed across all the beneficiary schools. At Carlos L. Albert High School in Quezon City, “teachers vouched that the state-of-the-art multimedia materials from Caltex FYS will help students learn faster through interactive participation. Said a teary-eyed Cecilia Biapo, the school’s science department head, ‘In the past,  storms and typhoons forms were discussed through ‘MP3’ or ‘Manila Paper 1, 2, 3’. Now, we have 48-inch flat screen TV! Who wouldn’t want to see animations of cyclogenesis with that?’”

Via a corollary social media campaign on Facebook, the top three beneficiary schools based on voting additionally received a new laptop each.

It’s all about recognizing that education is an enabler or, in the words of CPI policy, government, and public affairs manager Raissa Bautista, “the greatest equalizer.” She continued: “The combination of quality school equipment provided by Caltex FYS, passionate teachers, and motivated students will make education a very powerful tool for economic growth and sustainability.”

Caltex Fuel Your School is a component of CPI’s broader Energy for Learning Initiative which “supports educational programs that create opportunities for individuals to acquire new knowledge, gain new skills, and be exposed to different ways of thinking.” For more information, visit www.CaltexFuelYourSchoolPH.com.