Community partnerships: Huntsman highlights local schools at Earth Day event

Published 3:43 pm Friday, April 19, 2019

PORT NECHES — Huntsman hosted an Earth Day celebration to showcase environmental education with local school districts Thursday. The event took place at the company’s Environmental Education Center, which featured a wall-sized mural created by Port Neches-Groves High School.

“It gives us a platform to say we are a chemical company, but as a chemical company, this is some of the other things we do,” Huntsman Port Neches Site Director Chad Anderson said. “We have a thriving wildlife here. Those wetlands are here to polish and treat our water that comes from our plant. It’s also a sustainable environment for many animals. It’s neat to see how a chemical plant is a very important piece in the community.”

The event allowed for the company to educate the community of initiatives taken to support environmental projects as well as highlight relationships with local school districts. Last year, Huntsman awarded a $3,000 grant to Orangefield Independent School District, which was used to buy iPads.

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“We started these grants five years ago,” Anderson said. “We started with Port Neches and $3,000. Now we are up to $10,000 and serving five school districts. It’s neat to see the ingenuity they come up with. It’s good to see that they are using the grants on the work they do day in and day out.”

Anderson said the connection to PNG schools has been a vital connection to enriching the lives of those living in the community.

The importance of the partnership with the district is not lost on PNG High School Director of Student Activities Jon Deckert, who attended the event with several students in the Earth Club.

“We have a process operating class that partners with Lamar State College Port Arthur,” Deckert said. “When the schedule doesn’t work out, we have an internship where students come work as process operators here. Huntsman has never said ‘no’ to Port Neches-Groves ISD. They have been really wonderful.”

Deckert said Huntsman provided cooling towels for football players, band members and cheerleaders when the team played a hot Saturday game last season.

“Our science, math, career and technology, art departments and woodshop have all benefitted from our relationship with Huntsman,” Deckert said.