Monetary gift for district leads to program development
Last summer, Marathon Petroleum issued a monetary gift of $75,000 to Gallup-McKinley County Schools in support of building the district’s manufacturing and architecture classes. Of this amount, $50,000 went to the construction/carpentry pathway development, and $25,000 went to the welding production pathway.
The Gallup-McKinley County Schools Board of Education opened their Jan. 21 meeting with a recognition for Marathon Petroleum.
“The funding for our students is so needed,” Dist. 3 Member Priscilla Manuelito said. “One of the things we’re working on [that will benefit] is Career Pathways.”
Manuelito also addressed a special plaque given to Marathon Petroleum, which was shaped like an arrowhead.
“That’s a special symbol in our indigenous culture,” she said. “It’s used as protection. A lot of our warriors wear it, and they use it to protect themselves from any harm to come to them. It is very prestigious for you to get an arrowhead because it is very meaningful in our culture.”
The rest of the board gave their thanks as well.
“Marathon Petroleum has been extremely generous to our school district and provided us funding and supported our students and district to pursue technology and instruction in other areas as a career choice,” GMCS Superintendent Mike Hyatt said. “We hope we can repay Marathon Petroleum with employees from our area that are even more skilled as they come out of high school.”
Gallup High School, Crownpoint High School, Navajo Pine High School, Ramah High School, Tse’ Yi’ Gai High School, and Thoreau High School all benefited from the funds for either their construction or welding pathways.
Several of the schools’ teachers and principals were present to give their thanks to Marathon Petroleum.
“The changes we’ve made over the past few years have been outstanding. We’ve been using federal dollars to build our automotive program, little by little,” Thoreau High School Principal Lawrence Sena said.
By Cody Begaye
Sun Correspondent
