Chevron Donates $70,000 to the Manhattan Beach Unified School District

Manhattan Beach, Calif. - Chevron Products Company, a dedicated supporter of the Manhattan Beach Unified School District (MBUSD), recently presented MBUSD with a gift of $70,000.

"In these difficult times, we are more fortunate than ever to have corporate partners like Chevron to support the enhancement of science and math programs that directly impact students," said MBUSD Superintendent Bev Rohrer. "With greatly reduced federal and state funding, we wouldn´t be able to make these improvements in instruction and curriculum delivery without this generous donation from Chevron."

This year, educators throughout California have experienced extensive mid-year cuts to make up for state budget shortfalls. In the midst of this bleak economic outlook Chevron has stepped up to make a difference. Despite the down-turn in the economy, the company continues to support the Manhattan Beach Unified School District and the Manhattan Beach Education Foundation (MBEF). In addition to the $70,000 donation, Chevron makes several supplemental donations to the district annually to fund a variety of educational needs. Always a highly successful fundraiser, Chevron´s founding sponsorship of the Manhattan Beach Wine Auction helped raise a total of more than $600,000 this year for MBEF. During the annual event, "The Chevron Challenge" raised $54,000 alone through on-the-spot donations and Chevron´s matching funds.

"Chevron´s donation will help MBUSD enhance K-12 science and mathematics programs through the purchase of laboratory equipment and consumable lab materials, a wireless laptop computer station for scientific data collection, and other interactive learning aids designed to engage students and improve teaching techniques," said Carolyn Seaton, MBUSD Executive Director of Education Services. "It is our hope these enhancements in the district´s science and math curriculum will be a turning point in inspiring students to pursue future careers in these fields."

"To date this year, Chevron has directly donated more than $200,000 to K-12 education programs, with an emphasis on math and science curriculum, to South Bay schools," said Rod Spackman, Chevron El Segundo Refinery Manager of Policy, Government and Public Affairs. "Now more than ever, it is extremely important we help the schools meet their educational goals in what is clearly a very challenging fiscal environment. Continued support of classroom education is a key priority for Chevron and we regularly support various initiatives in the communities where we do business."

Manhattan Beach Unified School District is one of the highest performing unified school districts in the State of California with a 2009 Academic Performance Index (API) of 915. MBUSD serves nearly 6,900 students from preschool to twelfth grade at eight school campuses—one preschool, five elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. Mira Costa High School´s API places it in the top 2.5% of public high schools in California, and it was named number eleven in ESPN´s "Fab 50" High Schools in the Unified States in 2009 for its superior athletic programs. In addition to outstanding students and excellent teachers, MBUSD is extremely fortunate to have a high level of parental involvement in the schools and very strong partnerships with the Manhattan Beach Education and Athletic Foundations, the City of Manhattan Beach, Chevron, and other local organizations and businesses. More information about MBUSD is available at www.mbusd.org.

Chevron Corporation is one of the world's leading integrated energy companies, with subsidiaries that conduct business worldwide. The company's success is driven by the ingenuity and commitment of approximately 62,000 employees who operate across the energy spectrum. Chevron explores for, produces and transports crude oil and natural gas; refines, markets and distributes transportation fuels and other energy products; manufactures and sells petrochemical products; generates power and produces geothermal energy; provides energy efficiency solutions; and develops the energy resources of the future, including biofuels and other renewables. Chevron is based in San Ramon, Calif. More information about Chevron is available at www.chevron.com.