STEM took the spotlight with the release of the “Hidden Figures” film which increased awareness of past gender and racial inequity. The film has not only inspired girls to pursue their interests in STEM but it also encouraged society and companies to address the STEM gender gap that is still present today.
A recent trip to visit my family in Kansas offered an unexpected example of how quickly the nature of work is changing. While I was there, we stopped in at a restaurant near the edge of our small town. In the past, it was the kind of place where you’d be greeted and served by eager young people—mostly local high school students or recent graduates getting their first work experience. This time, however, a computer screen at the entrance assigned us to a table.
In celebration of National Reading Month, CITGO partnered with mobile literacy program Bess the Book Bus to give out free books to hundreds of Corpus Christi children this February. As part of the program's ongoing tour across the country, Bess the Book Bus and founder Jennifer Frances made three stops at Corpus Christi-area schools, and CITGO Corpus Christi Refinery employees were on hand to help give pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and first-grade students one of their first tastes of the fun of reading.