ECHS Among Chevron $1M Grant Recipients

-as reported in TheDailyBreeze.com

Chevron announces $1M in grants to South Bay schools

By Douglas Morino Staff Writer

Erick Recinos and Zaid Khalil stood in an El Segundo park Thursday with dozens of other students from South Bay schools and showed off their latest work.

Soon, the sophomores at Environmental Charter High School in Lawndale began explaining their project: a large blue plastic barrel capable of holding 55 gallons of rainwater collected through a homemade filtration system. Gravity allows the water to be distributed efficiently, which could then be used for soaking the lawn or rinsing down the car. The students said their project aims to help California recover from years of drought.  "You save water, help the earth and cut down on the water bill," said Khalil, explaining the device could save the average household thousands of gallons of water a year.

04/08/2010---Staff Photo by Sean Hiller---- Congresswoman Jane Harman, in red, joins students, school administrators, community leaders and Cheveron employees in a photo op with the $1 million check Chevron handed out Thursday to provide science and technology grants to local South Bay school districts at a press conference at Cheveron Employee Park in El Segundo. (Sean Hiller)

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Student projects like this got a boost Thursday from Chevron, as company officials announced they will be handing out $1 million in science, technology, engineering and math grants to South Bay school districts.

The donation - considered the company's largest for "STEM" research at local schools - will be distributed to 15 South Bay campuses and used for a variety of projects. At El Segundo High School, a wood shop classroom will be converted into an engineering lab to support a four-year program. At the Da Vinci Schools in Wiseburn, a new communications center will be built allowing students to collaborate on classroom projects with working professionals across the globe.

At Manhattan  Beach Middle School, an institute for girls will be established focusing on science and technology curriculum.

In the Lawndale Elementary School District, teachers will receive more technology-geared training opportunities.

"It's clear that using technology is how students learn," aid Ellen Dougherty, superintendent of Lawndale schools. "Technology keeps moving and we have to keep moving with it."

District and company officials said the funding will create more hands-on learning opportunities for students contemplating careers in science and technology industries.

And that sits well for Recinos and Khalil.

With the extra funding, the students said they'll continue working on their water storage project and hope to adapt the system to use for drinking water. Maybe it'll even receive a patent and get mass-produce one day, they said.

"Some people may not realize the extent of our drought - they turn the faucet and water comes out," said Zaid, who hopes to one day be an architect specializing in "green" buildings. "We're trying to raise awareness."

douglas.morino@dailybreeze.com