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Gas South Inspires Young Minds with Educational Grants
Summer break is over, and that has all of us here at Gas South excited about the upcoming school year. As a company that strives to "Be A Fuel For Good,” we’re committed to giving 5% of our profits to support children in need. And part of that support goes to childhood education in the communities we serve.
A few upcoming projects we're excited about include a partnership with our parent company, Cobb EMC. Together, we’re giving $17,000 this year to help expand STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) learning in Georgia’s Cherokee County.
Dr. Erin Jacobs, the curriculum coordinator for STEM science with the Cherokee County School District, said, “STEM in Cherokee County School District is all about Students and Teachers Energizing Minds! In order to meet the demands of the dynamic, evolving and increasingly competitive world, our goal is to develop STEM-literate graduates equipped to seek out creative solutions to real-world problems. Our STEM programming focuses on authentic opportunities for students to experience interactive and immersive challenges that address global issues. We are grateful for Cobb EMC/Gas South’s continued support of our STEM programs and competitions. Our partnership continues to benefit the students in our district with increased opportunities in STEM.”
The money will go to three STEM projects: an essay contest, Lego building and Solar Cars. The essay contest involves Cherokee County’s seven middle schools and five STEM-focused elementary schools. Each school will have 10 winners, writing on the importance of STEM. For the Lego building, students from 23 schools will show off and compete with their building and design skills at a Lego build-off during the Cherokee Science Olympiad. And for the third project, Solar Cars, students from Woodstock High School will team up with elementary students from 14 other schools to build and race small solar vehicles. Jacobs said this project will impact about 300 students.
We’re also giving a total of $60,000 in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics) grants this year to Georgia and Florida public schools that previously received support from Infinite Energy. When Gas South acquired Infinite Energy in December, we knew the company was a good fit for Gas South because we aligned in our commitment to customers, company culture and our drive to make a difference in the communities we serve. Like Gas South, Infinite Energy's community involvement focused heavily on supporting children in need, so we knew the acquisition was a great opportunity for us to expand our efforts.
As part of that expansion, we’re pleased to announce our support this year includes continuing the STEAM grants Infinite Energy awarded each year to public schools in Gwinnett County, Georgia. We’ve sponsored the Gas South STEAM Lab at the YMCA of Metro Atlanta for years, so we’re thrilled to add the Gwinnett projects to our ongoing list of giving back. In August, we’ll officially present $50,000 to six schools there for the STEAM projects they’ve developed.
Gas South is also continuing to fund the robotics program in Alachua County, Florida, where we now have an office. Under the program, students at different schools in the county design and build their own robots. Then students compete with their robots at the local, state and national levels. We’re giving these schools $10,000 this year to support this effort and help inspire these students.
Gas South is committed to making the future a better place. From giving 5% of our profits to support children in need—a total of more than $1.5 million in 2021—to our commitment to invest $50 million in solar projects by the end of 2023, we’re driven to make a difference in the communities we serve and building a more sustainable future. Thank you to all the children and educators who work so hard at school each year. And keep an eye out for future Gas South blogs and social media posts as we follow the progress of these bright students and their projects in the upcoming months—and years—ahead.
For more on how Gas South is giving back and making a difference, take a look at our annual reports from previous years.
