ChampionX STEM Day for 200+ Midland-Odessa Students

Children are innate scientists as they try to experience the sights, scents, sounds, and textures of the world around them. Nature provides countless opportunities for discovery, creativity, problem-solving, and STEM education, a concept Texan by Nature, ChampionX, and the I-20 Wildlife Preserve understand deeply. 

At the beginning of 2022, ChampionX partnered with Texan by Nature to identify a meaningful way to engage their community in Midland-Odessa.

“Improving lives is our purpose at ChampionX, which doesn’t just apply to our employees and customers, we also want to ensure we are improving lives in the communities we work in.”

Eilidh Shaw, ChampionX HR Leader – Permian Basin

Through the Business Membership program, Texan by Nature proposed a STEM day, which activated local ChampionX employees, two IDEA Public Schools, and the I-20 Wildlife Preserve.

“The I-20 Wildlife Preserve seeks to engage students of all ages in rigorous outdoor science education and purpose. As the students become comfortable in nature, they learn a sense of place and greater understanding of the natural world.”

Elaine Magruder, Board President of the I-20 Wildlife Preserve

The two-day event took 5th and 6th-grade students on a nature walk through the preserve and a series of STEM-focused stations. ChampionX employees and I-20 docents led the 200 students through the stations, teaching them about human interactions with nature, the importance of water to people and the ecosystem, abiotic and biotic factors, and ecosystem adaptations.

“I really enjoyed seeing the students’ faces light up as they were discovering different parts of nature.  It was definitely very good for my soul.”

Raul Pando, ChampionX Employee

A study by Frontiers in Psychology shows that learning outdoors is not just a fun, novel experience for school-age children, but also helps them focus once they return to the classroom. After the STEM Day, students returned to their classrooms with a greater context and understanding of their interactions with nature and are primed to better learn for standardized testing. Through this collaboration, Texan by Nature, ChampionX, and I-20 Wildlife Preserve, were able to impact 200 students from IDEA Public Schools on the STEM day and potentially beyond. 

About ChampionX:

ChampionX is a global leader in chemistry solutions, artificial lift systems, and highly engineered equipment and technologies that help companies drill for and produce oil and gas safely, efficiently, and sustainably around the world. ChampionX’s expertise, innovative products, and digital technologies provide enhanced oil and gas production, transportation, and real-time emissions monitoring throughout the lifecycle of a well. To learn more about ChampionX, visit our website at www.championX.com 

About IDEA Public Schools:

IDEA Public Schools believes that each and every child can go to college. Since 2000, IDEA Public Schools has grown from a small school with 150 students to the fastest-growing network of tuition-free, Pre-K-12 public charter schools in the United States. Currently, the network serves 75,000 college-bound students in 137 schools across Texas, Louisiana, and Florida. IDEA has been recognized as a “Great Place to Work” and received national rankings on The Washington Post and U.S. News & World Report’s Top High Schools lists. IDEA remains on track to uphold its legacy of sending 100% of its graduates to college. 

About I-20 Wildlife Preserve:

The I-20 Wildlife Preserve is a 100-acre riparian forest campus in Midland, Texas. It is a wild space – not a park – managed by a nonprofit organization. The 86-acre urban playa lake is the highlight of the wetlands, floodplain thickets, and prairie grasslands – providing abundant avian, wildlife, and aquatic habitat. The urban playa at the Preserve is a treasured ecotourism destination of regional significance and a science education resource of the Permian Basin.