Abra school gets new equipment for science lab

BAGUIO CITY — Students of San Isidro National High School (SINHS) in Abra province will soon get science laboratory equipment, courtesy of Caltex Philippines, which has selected 30 public schools for its “Fuel Your School” campaign.

Chevron Corp. has allocated P3 million to finance the science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) courses of the 30 schools.

The money came from the P1 taken from every liter of fuel bought in Caltex stations near the chosen schools in La Union, Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte provinces, all in the Ilocos region, and Abra and Mountain Province in the Cordillera.

Grants

Each school will get P100,000 in grants, according to Joel Gaviola, Chevron assistant manager for policy, government and public affairs.

In return, the beneficiaries will be asked to promote the Caltex stations in their area.

Sherwin Zapatero, a SINHS science teacher, said the equipment would benefit not just his class but the school.

Gaviola said the 30 schools were chosen from over 80 high schools across northwestern Luzon that submitted proposals for STEM class projects.

Beneficiaries

Lawyer Raissa Bautista, Chevron public affairs manager, said the latest batch of schools belonged to the fourth staging of the “Fuel Your School” campaign.

She said the campaign had benefited schools in Metro Manila, Mindanao and Southern Luzon.

Zapatero said poor schools like SINHS have been resourceful in teaching science with hardly any equipment. “In the absence of litmus paper, for instance, we use eggplants to test acidity; instead of looking through a microscope, we print photographs for our students,” he said.

Chevron selected six high schools in the Cordillera, seven in La Union, 10 in Ilocos Norte and seven in Ilocos Sur. —Kimberlie Quitasol