Tenaris’s Academic Excellence Afterschool Program – the company’s first educational initiative in the United States - kicks off its 10th year in Blytheville, Arkansas, and with a new director at the helm.
“It’s incredible to see the positive impact that our afterschool program has had over the years,” said Luca Zanotti, Tenaris President, USA. “Education inspires and cultivates one’s drive to learn, to explore and grow. We wish the students a terrific year of learning and look forward to our continued partnership with the Blytheville School District.”
Twenty activity leaders, led by Holly Jo Engel, the afterschool program’s new director and former K-2 Reading Interventionist at Blytheville Primary School, welcomed 250 students to the program’s 2019-2020 school year.
Engel comes from a family of educators and started her career as an elementary school teacher and then as an interventionist. She later pursued a master’s degree in educational leadership. It was her penchant for curriculum and interventionist studies that drew her to the Academic Excellence Afterschool Program.
“I am very interested in providing a safe place, first of all, for our students after school, and also in giving them a fun academic approach as well,” said Engle. “We know they go to school and come to us afterwards, and to keep them engaged, we have to be hands on as possible, as engaged as possible.
Tenaris partnered with the Blytheville Public School District in 2010 to roll out the program to first and second grades. Over the years, the program expanded to include kindergarten through fifth grades, and to date, has impacted approximately 1,800 students.
The Academic Excellence Afterschool Program offers academic development through a STEM-based curriculum and a focus on literacy, art and recreational workshops.
Tenaris launched the afterschool program in the U.S. and has since implemented it in six other countries. Education is a leading value at Tenaris to contribute to the sustainability of the local communities where it has operations. In 2018, the company invested $7.4 million USD in education, globally.
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