News

Henderson Oil awards $7,000 to schools

By Bill Moss, Published: January 28, 2016

Henderson Oil Company awarded a total of $7,000 in ExxonMobil Educational Alliance grants to 14 Henderson County public schools on Thursday, supplying elementary, middle and high school principals with extra funds for necessary materials and programming.

Receiving grants of $500 each were Atkinson Elementary, Bruce Drysdale Elementary, Clear Creek Elementary, Glenn C. Marlow Elementary, Edneyville Elementary, Mills River Elementary, Upward Elementary, Flat Rock Middle, Hendersonville Middle, Rugby Middle, Hendersonville High, West Henderson High, North Henderson High and East Henderson High.

Edneyville Elementary, Clear Creek Elementary, Glenn C. Marlow Elementary, Bruce Drysdale Elementary, Hendersonville Middle, Rugby Middle, and East Henderson High intend to spend their funds on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) resources. Flat Rock Middle will use the $500 to purchase new 6th grade science tables for labs, while North Henderson High and Atkinson Elementary’s grant money will go toward collaborative technology. Upward Elementary intends to purchase a couple Chromebooks for students to use for math and science lessons and West Henderson High will purchase a new set of calculators for the school’s math department. Hendersonville High will use the $500 toward the purchase of a spectrophotometer for science labs, and Mills River Elementary will use the funds to support its participation in the Muddy Sneakers outdoor science program.

ExxonMobil Educational Alliance grants are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. This year 4,200 grants totaling $2.1 million were awarded to schools across the country. Henderson Oil Company, which owns and operates Energy Marts, was awarded 31 of these $500 grants for a total of $15,500. Since 2000, Henderson Oil Company and ExxonMobil have provided $188,250 in education grants to North Carolina, South Carolina and east Tennessee. Of that number, $95,250 has been awarded to schools in Henderson County.

“As long as it’s available, we’re going to keep doing it,” said Barry Edwards, vice president of Henderson Oil Company.