HOUSTON, TX (October 12, 2021) — Yellowstone Schools is pleased to announce three partners—Ascend Performance Materials, Building New Foundations, and Energy Transfer—as supporters of Yellowstone’s new grade-level sponsorship program. The sponsorship program allows companies and organizations to adopt a grade level to provide students with academic support throughout the year.
“We are so excited to have these organizations on board with us,” stated Ryan Dolibois, Executive Director and Superintendent for Yellowstone Schools. “We have been working with our corporate partners to refine this concept for several years, and we are thrilled to be officially launching this program. Our goal is for each grade level to have an organization or company follow and support the same scholars every year throughout their entire Yellowstone educational experience starting from Pre-K to graduation.”
Through these partnerships, scholars will receive required books, academic enhancements (e.g., reading and writing workshops, afterschool programming, field trips), access to Chromebooks and headsets, uniforms, social-emotional and educational resources, and additional instructional support and tutoring—all at no cost to the scholars.
“We started our grade-level partnership with Yellowstone in 2016,” states Kenya Thompson, Financial Analyst and Yellowstone’s liaison at Ascend. “We met with the first-grade students, fell in love with them immediately, and we have moved up with them every year. It has been amazing supporting them and seeing their growth throughout the past five years. This past May, we were able to be there for a significant milestone—their fifth-grade graduation! Our goal is to help keep students on track, more now than ever, after the last two challenging school years.”
“We are excited to sponsor the kindergartener students at Yellowstone, and we look forward to supporting them as they grow into thriving young adults through this program,” said Chris Curia, Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Energy Transfer. “We are also excited to support such a great organization and its leaders who work daily to inspire, empower and invest in these students.”
For more information regarding the Yellowstone Schools Corporate Grade-Level Sponsorship Program, please contact advancement@yellowstoneschools.org.
Located in Houston’s historic Third Ward, Yellowstone Schools educates nearly 500 majority Black children. Yellowstone is committed to partnering with students and families, regardless of financial means, to provide an excellent education, develop faith and character, and prepare scholars for life beyond high school. At Yellowstone, we inspire, empower, and invest in students to achieve their highest potential and fulfill their intended purpose.
Yellowstone comprises Yellowstone Academy and Yellowstone College Prep. The Academy is a private, Christian school serving students in Pre-K through 5th grades and providing significant financial assistance to families. Yellowstone College Prep is a tuition-free charter school serving students from 6th through 8th grades and is expanding to include students through the 12th grade. As a public entity, College Prep complies with all federal and state laws.
About Ascend Performance Materials
Ascend Performance Materials makes high-performance materials for everyday essentials and new technologies. Our focus is on improving quality of life and inspiring a better tomorrow through innovation. Based in Houston, Texas, our 2,600-person global workforce makes the plastics, fabrics, fibers, and chemicals used to make safer vehicles, cleaner energy, better medical devices, smarter appliances, and longer-lasting apparel and consumer goods. We are committed to safety, sustainability, and the success of our customers and our communities.
About Building New Foundations
Building New Foundations’ mission is to affect a positive transformation in the lives of the disadvantaged youth of the greater Houston area. By utilizing the community’s human, financial, and spiritual resources, we commit to altering their present state and future by focusing on their mental, emotional, corporal, educational, and spiritual health and growth and improving their current physical environment.
Energy Transfer LP (NYSE: ET) owns and operates one of the largest and most diversified portfolios of energy assets in the United States, with a strategic footprint in all major domestic production basins. Across 38 states, we are committed to being a good neighbor, business partner, and valued member of the communities in which our employees live and work. We have long-standing commitments to causes, including MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital, The Salvation Army, American Heart Association, Ronald McDonald House, and many more.
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Contact:
Patricia Jonesi
Communications Manager
The Yellowstone Schools
713-741-8000
