Pitsco Education Partners with Chevron Energy Solutions to Bring Cutting-Edge Technology and STEM Curricula to Schools

NUEVO, Calif., Oct. 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Pitsco Education and Chevron Energy Solutions (CES) have partnered to bring cutting-edge energy technology and STEM curricula to schools. CES, an industry leader in developing cost-saving sustainability programs, saw a way to offer schools both money-saving solar power technology and the opportunity to use the money saved to invest in curricula capable of nurturing the next generation of scientists and energy engineers. This is where Pitsco Education, an industry leader specializing in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) solutions, enters the picture.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131001/PH89296-a )
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131001/PH89296-b )

The Pitsco-Chevron venture had its inception at Mountain Shadows Middle School in the Nuview Union School District, Nuevo, California. Chevron created a plan to install a series of solar shades in the parking lot of the middle school, and with the projected savings Nuview purchased a Pitsco STEM lab for its students. In the STEM lab, the students explore real-world topics in a hands-on way – topics such as sustainable agriculture, intelligent homes, and oceanography. The solar shades and the STEM lab were made possible by a bond that passed in the community with strong support.

To Mark Emerson, Vice President of CES, programs like the one now working at Nuview are a win for everybody, from the community and its schools to private-sector partners.

"For communities to thrive, there is nothing more important than education. Whenever we work with cities or schools, we find innovative ways to invest in schools and teachers. We actively look for ways to leverage our involvement to improve instruction in science, technology, engineering, and math skills."

The choice of CES to join together with Pitsco was a thoughtfully reasoned decision. As Emerson explained, "We have worked with hundreds of school districts to create hands-on, STEM-based curricula and training. Pitsco brings experience and data that link their programs to improved test scores for students. The combination seems natural."

Pitsco National Sales Manager Todd Smith and representatives with K20associates helped nurture the partnership with Chevron. "Pitsco and Chevron have been formulating this partnership for three years, fine-tuning our goals and educational outcomes along the way," Smith said. "It's a partnership born of a shared desire to lead educational change that positively affects learners."

Nuview Superintendent David Pyle is certainly enthusiastic about the anticipated benefits for students at his district's middle school.

"Chevron saw a possibility of saving the district some money each year by saving energy costs, which was exciting, but my nonnegotiable was that if these structures are going to be in our parking lots, what is it doing for our students? We wanted to build this concept of parents dropping off students in the parking lots and seeing these big structures – and how do we bring that into the classroom?"

Learn more about Pitsco Education: http://www.pitsco.com/about/.

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Pitsco Education is the leading provider of age-appropriate, student-centered K-12 STEM learning solutions. Our standards-based curriculum, products, equipment, and materials promote student success through positive and challenging learning experiences.

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