On December 7, 2016, the Panama Buena Vista Union School District announced that it received an $80,000 donation from Chevron to help develop an engineering lab at Castle Elementary School.

“Chevron has been and continues to be a great partner with Panama-Buena Vista schools with programs like Donors Choose, Project Lead the Way and Fuel Your Schools,” said district superintendent Dr. Kevin Silberberg. “With this large investment in our STEAM Academy, Chevron has taken it up a notch.”

The funds will supplement a $7 million, five-year School Improvement Grant (SIG) the district recently received from the California Department of Education (CDE) to develop the Castle STEAM Academy, which will prepare students in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) through a problem-based learning approach.

“The experiences provided by the Castle STEAM Academy will plant a seed for lifelong learning,” said Adam Alvidrez, community engagement specialist with Chevron.