support for STEAM education
In 2018, Chevron Pascagoula Refinery, the Fab Foundation and Jackson County School District partnered together to open a $1.2 million stationary and mobile Fab Lab in Vancleave, Miss. A Fab Lab is a platform for learning and innovation: a place to play, to create, to learn, to mentor and to invent. Fab Labs include a laser cutter that makes 2D and 3D structures, a sign cutter that plots in copper to make antennas and flex circuits, a high-resolution NC milling machine that makes circuit boards and precision parts, a large wood router for building furniture and housing, and a suite of electronic components and programming tools for low-cost, high-speed microcontrollers for on-site rapid circuit prototyping. The stationary Fab Lab and mobile unit are available to students throughout Jackson County and along the Gulf Coast. To learn more, go to Fab Foundation.
Chevron partnered with the Early Childhood Institute at Mississippi State University to found Excel By Five, a state-wide community certification process to help ensure the state’s youngest citizens are happy, healthy, and ready to learn by age five.
Many Mississippi cities/counties are candidates for or certified as Excel By 5 “child-friendly” communities. In Jackson County, the City of Pascagoula and City of Moss Point have received Excel By 5 certification.
Project Lead The Way (PLTW), with Chevron funding, has expanded from one pilot high school in Jackson County in 2013, to 25 elementary schools, eight middle schools and eight high schools with PLTW programs. The organization inspires and empowers K-12 students to build and demonstrate in-demand, transportable skills by applying problem-solving strategies to complex, real-world challenges. More than 30 refinery engineers volunteer as classroom mentors in local PLTW classrooms.