By Noimot Olayiwola/Staff Reporter


Chevron Philips Chemical Company Qatar (CPChem Qatar) has donated QR600,000 to the American School of Doha to build its Middle School Science Centre (MSSC).
The cheque for the donation was handed over to ASD director Dr Deborah Welch by CPChem Qatar country manager Scott Sharp during a brief ceremony held recently on the school campus.
The construction of the centre, which is part of the school’s expansion plan, is expected to start in three months. The entire project will be completed in the next one-and-a-half years.
The MSSC will provide science and technology education to more than 525 students in grades six to eight.
The centre will comprise fully equipped science classrooms/laboratories as well as an updated multi-purpose laboratory for robotics and photography.
The multi-purpose lab is expected to be include a computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) learning in the future.
At the centre, the ASD students will learn about science, technology and develop essential skills needed to prepare them for their future.
Middle School principal Dr Steven Leever said the centre will help students have a ‘real connection on how science touches human lives.’
“When we teach science, we don’t want the students to just study science, we want them to actually touch lives. We want them to experience science, have lots of experiments, lots of hands-on and that is what our science lab is designed to do,” he said.
Dr Leever said the money will allow ASD to expand its science programme and to bring some more of those hands-on experiences.
“When students learn about a scientific method, for example, we don’t want them to do it on a worksheet, we want them to go out and perform an experiment that demonstrates to them how the scientific method actually works in the real world. That’s what we want to do, to help students have a very real connection on how science touches their lives,” he said.
Dr Welch said the donation was a very large one for the school.
“And we know that there would be many changes in the future, so we have to come up with new ways to solve the problems that we would have. Problems in regard to pollution, more people, more issues, we’ve got to have young people who know how problems are solved, who know how to think critically and creatively. And if we can have the state-of-the art science facilities for them, where they do real science, not only in a worksheet or textbook, then we are going to do the best job possible to prepare them for a changing future; to solve all these problems.”
Asked why CPChem Qatar has made such a huge donation to ASD, Sharp said it was part of the company’s corporate social responsibilities and the first of its kind large donation to a school’s science centre.
“Chevron Phillips Qatar is in science. Science is the basis for all our chemicals. We support anything that supports kids’ education in science fields. We are not doing most of the work, the school is, science centre, they teach the kids and we just feel that we could help facilitate it all by making this contribution,” he said.
Both Dr Welch and Dr Leever praised CPChem Qatar for their supports to the school.
“Chevron Phillips is one of the corporate sponsors of the school. When this school facility was being built, nine oil and gas industries and corporations guaranteed the loan. As a result they are very important partners with us and it is important to us that we are able to provide spaces for their children and school,” Dr Welch said.