For Immediate Release
Contact: Kaitlin Gastrock | Teach For America
646.315.1396 | kaitlin.gastrock@teachforamerica.org
Lee Warren | Marathon Oil Corporation
713.296.4103 | leewarren@marathonoil.com
Marathon Oil Celebrates Teach For America's 20 Years in Houston-area Classrooms
HOUSTON, September 15, 2011—Teach For Americaannounced a $100,000 gift from Marathon Oil Corporation to support Teach For America’s work to recruit, train, and support top college graduates and professionals who commit to teach for two years in underserved public schools and become lifelong leaders in the pursuit of educational equity. A Teach For America supporter since 2006, Marathon Oil makes this donation in honor of Teach For America’s 20th anniversary providing a source of effective teachers and educational leaders for the Houston area.
Today, over 450 Teach For America corps members are impacting close to 34,000 students in high-need Houston-area public schools and some 700 Teach For America alumni continue to work from all sectors to expand educational opportunity in the city. Since 1991, Teach For America-Houston has trained more than 2,300 teachers for local classrooms.
Teach For Americawill celebrate its 20th anniversary in Houston with a dinner on Wednesday, October 5 at the Hilton Americas. Marathon Oil executive vice president and chief financial officer Janet Clark will co-host the celebration with Cathy and Paul Chapman. Clark also joins the Teach For America-Houston Regional Board this month.
“Teach For America corps members and alumni are driven by a passionate belief in every child’s potential to achieve,” said Terry Bruner, executive director of Teach For America in Houston. “As we celebrate our 20th anniversary, we’re thrilled to have Marathon’s generous support, enabling more of these dedicated leaders to work alongside other excellent teachers in our city and have a lasting impact on Houston-area students, schools and communities.”
“Marathon Oil is proud to support Teach For America’s work to train effective teachers and foster committed leaders in the movement for educational excellence and equity,” said Clark. “By expanding educational opportunity for our highest-need students, Teach For America is serving as a critical partner in our communities’ efforts to give every child the education they deserve.”
A growing body of rigorous research demonstrates the effectiveness of Teach For America corps members in the classroom. Recent state studies by Louisiana, North Carolina, and Tennessee found that corps members have a positive impact on student achievement. The Tennessee study identified Teach For America as the most effective of the state’s 42 teacher-preparation programs, with corps members demonstrating a greater impact on student achievement than the average new teacher in every evaluated subject area.
About Marathon Oil Corporation
Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE: MRO) is an independent international exploration and production company. Based in Houston, Texas, the Company has proved reserves in North America, the North Sea and Africa. In addition to responsibly developing energy resources around the world, Marathon Oil invests in long-term, sustainable programs to improve the quality of life in communities where its employees live and work. The Company’s philanthropy and community relations efforts play an integral role in the conduct of its business around the world, and it focuses these activities in the areas of education, health and human services, civic and community, environment and the arts. Building relationships with key stakeholders within and through targeted non-profit organizations is a key aspect of Marathon Oil’s strategy. This approach allows it to engage employees and external partners in a way that strengthens specific programs, organizations and communities. For more information, please visit the Company's website at http://www.marathonoil.com.
About Teach For America
Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates who commit to teach for two years in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in expanding educational opportunity. Today, more than 9,000 corps members are teaching in 43 regions across the country while nearly 24,000 Teach For America alumni continue working from inside and outside the field of education for the fundamental changes necessary to ensure educational excellence and equity. For more information, visit http://www.teachforamerica.org.
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