Gowan donates funds for advanced classes for Yuma students

March 20, 2007

By hammersmith

[Source: Sarah Reynolds, Yuma Sun] — With so much focus on getting failing students up to standard, the owners of a Yuma corporation were concerned that high-achievers were getting lost in the crowd. “I worry that we’re not giving that level of children what they need to achieve,” said Jon Jessum, founder and chairman of the board for Gowan Corporation. “We were looking for an issue where we thought we could help the community the most with what financial support we could contribute.”

To try and raise the bar, Gowan Corp. is partnering with the Crane Elementary School District to fund special classes for advanced students. The Gowan Achievement Project, or GAP, was approved by the Crane governing board at its regular meeting Monday. Gowan will provide more than $293,000 to fund GAP for one year. It will create special math, science, language arts, and social studies classes at Rancho Viejo School. The students who have met or achieved standards on the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards exam are eligible for the class. It will fund field trips, salaries for GAP teachers, and supplies, including a laptop computer for every GAP student. [Note: to read the full article, click here.]