The North Forest Independent School District celebrated on Monday a $1 million donation from the energy company BP America to improve math and science education for students.
George McShan, the president of the state-appointed board of managers in North Forest, said the money will help students with more hands-on learning, though a detailed spending plan is still in the works.
“This will be part of a project-based learning concept,” he said. “It will allow children to pump themselves up rather than shut down when they come to school.”
Students in the cash-strapped school district struggled on the state’s math and science exams last year. At North Forest High School, 36 percent passed the math test and 45 percent passed science.
Ronnie Chappell, a BP spokesman, said the funding will go in part to science lab equipment.
BP’s donation represents about 2 percent of the school district’s $51 million general operating budget this year.
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, who held a news conference announcing the donation, said she had invited Robert Malone, the former chief of BP America, to North Forest ISD to encourage the funding partnership.
“This is enormously exciting,” said Jackson Lee .
Via: Chron.com
