Kids at General Frank Elementary were alerted by intercom that a special gift was forthcoming.
Archrock, the leading provider of midstream natural gas compression services in the Permian, heard of an unusual need at a local elementary school. And on Feb. 15 the company made a donation to General Franks Elementary in Midland, Texas, to meet their request.
Archrock’s donation to the school consisted of 712 pairs of earbuds, which the school distributed to students at a special assembly. The donation was enough to allow the school to provide earbuds for every student at the school. Earbuds were distributed under the leadership of principal Andra Jones.
Brad Remley, Vice President of Archrock’s Permian Business Unit, presented the earbuds to the school on February 15 at 2:00 p.m. on behalf of Archrock. The presentation was made over the school’s intercom system, after which the school delivered the earbuds to each classroom for distribution.
Following the presentation, the school celebrated Archrock’s donation with an in-class “SHOW UP AND GLOW UP” dance party for students.
Principal Jones explained that “Every student in our school currently completes some type of classroom online learning on a daily basis. But only about 25 percent of our students have earbuds to use for their online studies.” Without earbuds, classrooms can become noisy—even if students are listening to their devices on low volume. This has led to some students working in hallways in order to concentrate on their individualized learning.
The school requested that all students bring earbuds at the beginning of the school year, but some parents never sent them and some earbuds have become lost or broken since the beginning of the year. With Covid concerns, administrators don’t want students to share earbuds.
Archrock heard of the school’s needs and responded by donating the requested earbuds to the school, according to the school’s specifications. “Archrock has a longstanding commitment to education, and we knew this would be a donation our employees would be proud to stand behind,” said Remley.
Because safety is a core Archrock value—including hearing safety—Remley addressed the importance of using earbuds safely. This included a reminder to use the earbuds at the lowest volume that allows students to hear the lesson, and that if others can hear what they’re listening to, the volume should be turned down. Attendees will be asked to follow a simple rule: “If I can hear your sound, it’s time to turn it down!”
General Franks Elementary is committed to building partnerships with its colleagues, families, and community to ensure its focus is on creating an atmosphere in which students feel respected, loved, and valued so they can become academically successful, according to a statement from the school.
“Archrock is proud to be part of the Permian, and supporting General Franks Elementary with this donation of earbuds is a source of community pride for us,” said Remley.
“We are truly thankful to receive this donation from Archrock,” added Christy Edwards, president of the General Franks Elementary PTA. “It’s nice that the people of Archrock responded when they heard about our challenge.”
Click the picture to watch a video of the dance party!
About Archrock
Archrock is an energy infrastructure company with a pure-play focus on midstream natural gas compression. Archrock is the leading provider of natural gas compression services to customers in the oil and natural gas industry throughout the United States and a leading supplier of aftermarket services to customers that own compression equipment in the United States. Archrock is headquartered in Houston, Texas. For more information, please visit www.archrock.com.