Lexmark gives P4M to Cebu science school

CEBU, Philippines - The Lexmark International Inc. (LII) gives a one-time educational fund worth P4 million as part of its 20th anniversary to the Cebu City National Science High School (CCNSHS).

Lexmark, based in Lexington, Kentucky, USA, is one of the leading developers and manufacturers of printing solutions in Europe and North America.

Through its subordinates in the Philippines, the Lexmark Research and Development Corporation (LRDC) and Lexmark International (Phils), Inc. (LIPI) turned over the said amount to CCNSHS yesterday.

Stan Combs, President and CEO of LRDC, said they have selected specific schools from various places and CCNSHS is one of the schools they have chosen because of the school’s educational achievements in the field of Mathematics and Science, which are not only known in Cebu City but also in the entire country.

CCNSHS will create a Lexmark Science and e-Research Lab (Lexmark SRL) inside its campus in Labangon. The facility is intended to improve the students’ mean percentage scores in the school, regional and national achievement tests and to increase students’ interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

The laboratory will be equipped with new and best-in-class learning modules and lab kits, together with enhancements in the curriculum.

It will be up to the faculty and staff of the school to use the facility for the betterment of the students, to the school curriculum, programs, and to the teaching techniques of the teachers, said Combs.

Dr. Severna Chin, school principal, is thankful to Lexmark for giving the school the one-time grant, saying they will use it extensively for the next years. She added that the big challenge for the school and the students is to get a 95 percent plus average.

“Lexmark is interested in people who think, creative, self-motivated, and energetic and bring something to their work and the way they give back. What ever program or study you choose, remember that it is the personal characteristics that will make you step forward and excel,” Combs said.

The said grant is part of a bigger and global educational initiative by Lexmark to promote Math and Science achievement in several communities where Lexmark operates worldwide. The said community contribution fondly called as the “20th Anniversary Gift” is consistent with the company’s corporate philanthropic focus on science, technology, engineering and math education which are the foundational studies that technology and engineering-based companies like Lexmark are built upon.

Lexmark arrived in the Philippines in 1999 with the establishment of Lexmark International Philippines, Inc., an inkjet cartridge assembly plant, at the Mactan Export Processing Zone II. This 115,500 square-foot facility in Cebu, the newest addition to Lexmark’s manufacturing sites in Asia, supplies inkjet cartridges to the growing Asian market, as well as supplementing the U.S. market. — (FREEMAN)