CITGO and the Harris County Sheriff's Office Work to Motivate Local Students and Improve School Attendance

Students at Alief, Houston and Spring Branch Independent School Districts to Receive Kindle Fire Tablets

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May 21, 2014, 09:45 ET

HOUSTON, May 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- CITGO Petroleum Corporation and the Harris County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) are proud to announce the second installment of the "Kindling Young Minds" program aimed at boosting attendance at six Houston high schools. Between May 12 and May 23, representatives from CITGO and the Sheriff's office will visit schools in the Alief, Houston and Spring Branch Independent School Districts (ISD) to honor 30 students who have demonstrated improved attendance through the spring semester. The students will receive Kindle Fire tablets as recognition of their achievement.

"The 'Kindling Young Minds' program has proven to be an excellent way to motivate our students to strive for improved attendance," said Patrick Cherry, principal at Hastings High School. "The Kindle Fire tablets help students complete schoolwork at home or on the go, and the partnership with CITGO and HCSO has been a true win-win for the kids and the schools. Our students love technology and we are thankful that we can provide them with tools that help them learn and support their academic achievement."

As part of the program, the Alief, Houston and Spring Branch ISD each identified two schools that experience high absenteeism, for a total of six participating schools. Five students from each school who had demonstrated either perfect or improved attendance during the second semester were randomly selected. These 30 students will be presented with Kindle Fire Tablets during special events with CITGO and the Sheriff's Office:

May 12: Worthing High School, Houston ISD
May 14: Madison High School, Houston ISD
May 22: Spring Woods High School, Spring Branch ISD
May 22: Northbrook High School, Spring Branch ISD
May 23: Hastings High School, Alief ISD
May 23: Elsik High School, Alief ISD

"We launched the 'Kindling Young Minds' program to remind students that each day counts," said Sheriff Adrian Garcia, who will make the presentations at Spring Woods High School on May 22. "We are excited to revisit the schools to see how the initiative has improved school attendance in the Houston area. We are so proud that our partnership with CITGO has helped empower the students in Harris County to do well in school."

The May events will be the second part of the inaugural year of the "Kindling Young Minds" program. Thirty students from the same six schools were awarded Kindle Fire tablets in December to recognize improvements from the first semester.

The "Kindling Young Minds" Program is just one of the ways CITGO gives back to the communities in which it operates.

CITGO supports educational and social initiatives that create meaningful impact while addressing some of today's most difficult societal challenges. Each year, CITGO invests in social programs that help ease the burden of many families across the country through initiatives such as the CITGO-Venezuela Heating Oil Program, CITGO-Venezuela Energy Efficient Lighting Program, its Fueling Education campaign, the 28-year long support of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and many others. In addition, CITGO employees and those at nearly 6,000 local independently owned and operated CITGO branded stations provide thousands of volunteer hours and millions of dollars to help organizations in their own communities.

CITGO, based in Houston, is a refiner, transporter, and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. The company is owned by PDV America, Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. For more information visit www.CITGO.com.

SOURCE CITGO Petroleum Corporation