 |
pre-college education
Bernard Harris, a former astronaut and President of the Harris Foundation, works with middle school students Karan Patel and Esteban Castro on an engineering experiement at the ExxonMobil/NASA Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp at the University of Houston. In 2007, ExxonMobil will expand this program to offer 20 summer science camps.
Our goal in supporting pre-college education is to positively impact teaching and learning in K–12 classrooms. In 2006, worldwide contributions in support of this goal totaled almost $19.0 million
, with almost $9.0 million benefiting communities outside of the United States.
The performance of American students in math and science is poor by the standards of most industrialized nations, and this bodes poorly for future competitiveness and prosperity. To reverse this trend, ExxonMobil is investing more in strategic math and science education programs. In 2006, ExxonMobil expanded efforts to improve math and science education in the United States by increasing support of unique programs that benefit both students and teachers.
We provided a $1 million developmental grant to Reasoning Mind, a new, innovative web-based system to help motivate and encourage students, beginning at the fifth grade level, to become proficient in mathematics. More than $700,000 in support was provided through our K–5 Mathematics Specialist Program to strengthen the effectiveness of the mathematics specialist role within school districts. Through grants to organizations such as the National Science Teachers Association and Mathematics Association of America we are continuing to provide math and science teachers with professional development opportunities and support the development of highly qualified teachers in these fields.
As we operate worldwide, we have been exposed to educational systems that vary dramatically, ranging in teaching systems from IT-based classrooms to very rudimentary conditions. Therefore, ExxonMobil’s educational support targets the specific needs of individual countries. In the developing world, our support for education is focused on meeting basic education needs — often in countries where education is by no means easily accessible to all. Through our Educating Women and Girls Initiative in Angola, we worked with Save the Children USA and local communities to construct and furnish safe community schools and classrooms in Kuanza Sul Province.
