Students, teachers and oil & gas companies come together
As we get further away from the April 1 Spurring Education Energy Day, I get more introspective about what we accomplished on that one day in April.
To be honest, it has taken that long to get back to normal. This event was a first of its kind for our industry. STEER company members worked tirelessly to build an experience for almost 1,000 students and teachers that was fun and engaging. But, also, that taught them about the skills needed to work in the oil and gas industry.
The range of students was massive and wide reaching. Students from the Rio Grande Valley, Coastal Bend, Eagle Ford South Texas Region and San Antonio came to the arena our San Antonio Spurs play to check out our event.
No pressure right?
They had various backgrounds, some came from STEM school and some had never seen a pump jack in their lives. But, they all shared one thing in common. They were all polite, engaged, and left inspired. And, in return, we left inspired as well. The past two years has been hard on the oil and gas workers. Those who have been fortunate to keep their jobs, feel the loss of their comrades. This event helped to remind us why we do what we do for a living and pay it forward.
When we first thought of this event, I was unsure if we could actually pull it off. No one had done something like this. I couldn’t be more proud of our companies’ willingness to participate, and so proud of the teachers and students for traveling from near and far.
I thought I would be relieved when the stress of this event was over, that I could get back to my “day job” traveling throughout South Texas educated about our industry and engaging in the community. I thought that if we inspired one child to graduate from high school and enter in a STEM career, we would call this event a success. Boy, was I in for a surprise, a beautiful surprise.
Over the past few weeks, teachers and students have been sending us the most amazing feedback and thank you notes to our STEER and our companies. The cherry on top was a video and signed photo from the School of Science and Technology Main in San Antonio. Thank you Nancy Thompson for introducing us to your amazing teachers and students. I will treasure this gift for years to come.
All the worrying, stressing and planning (and replanning) to make this event a success was worth it because of what came out of the event. Encouraging students to look into a STEM career, and hopefully end up in the oil and gas industry. Now, it is back on the road for this oil and gas woman.
If you want to learn more about the event, check out our recap video from the Spurring Education Energy Day by clicking here.
Haley Curry, VP, External Affairs