Powering the next generation
Energy industry partners with TCU and Fort Worth ISD to launch high school academy
by Kathryn Hopper
Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief said the 50-student Southwest Academy of Petroleum Engineering & Technology will be a great addition to the city’s vibrant economic and educational opportunities, thanks to TCU's leadership.
The oil and gas industry wants to attract the best and brightest minds, but its leaders aren’t sitting back, they are actively creating high school academies designed to introduce students to the field and give them the educational foundation they need to succeed.
Now with help from the TCU Energy Institute, one of those academies will be in Fort Worth.
The Independent Petroleum Association of America announced a partnership with the Fort Worth ISD to form the Southwest Academy of Petroleum Engineering & Technology opening for the 2009-2010 school year. The academy will be a school within a school at Southwest High School and will initially serve 50 incoming freshmen.
While it will be the first of its kind in North Texas, the academy is modeled on three similar schools operating in Houston and will have a curriculum focused on engineering, geoscience and global energy management. The academy’s teachers will receive Petroleum Exploration and Production technology training through industry sources, the Energy Institute and School of Education. Students must apply for a spot at the academy, with applications available through the district’s Web site www.fwisd.org.
Doris Richardson, director of the IPAA’s Education Center in Houston, worked with industry and school officials to tailor the coursework to industry needs, emphasizing science and math, while also providing a broad base of other subjects including language arts and social sciences. She said students who finish the program graduate with the equivalent of an associate’s degree or more, giving them a head start in their higher education.
“These academies have a profound impact on our students,” she said. “Before the program, when you asked them about opportunities in the energy industry, they only thought about roughnecks, working on the rigs. They didn’t know about petrochemists or geophysicists or any of a number of other opportunities.”
A large component of the academy is completing hands-on projects and receiving mentoring from industry professionals and the news conference included representatives from local oil and gas companies eager to work with the academy’s students.
“America needs for us to bring young people into this industry," said Jonathan Rhoads, ’03 marketing manager at National Oilwell Varco. “The way we do that is to surround them with young professionals who are passionate about what we do. It also gives an opportunity to the next generation of managers – giving us an opportunity to mentor and provide leadership.”
Galen Cobb, vice president for industry affairs at Halliburton, said the industry needs new blood because the average age of its workforce is 48.
“We’ll lose 50 percent of our workforce in the next decade,” he said.
Ken Morgan, director of the TCU Energy Institute, said the academy will help drive the interest among young people for the industry, something he is already seeing at TCU. He noted that the Energy Club has grown to 300 members including 150 students from a wide variety of majors.
“The excitement is unparalleled to anything I’ve ever seen and I’ve been here for 30 years,” Morgan said. They say if you build it, they will come. Well, we’d better build it, because they’re coming anyway.”
Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief opened the news conference, saying the academy was a great addition to the city’s vibrant economic and educational opportunities. He also praised TCU for its leadership.
“It’s no accident I’m wearing a purple tie today,” he said. “We’re very proud of this institution, particularly now that it’s no longer under construction.”