On October 20, TRA representatives joined students, parents, school administrators and instructors for a tour of the Skills for Life mathematics lab at the F.K. White Middle School in Lake Charles, LA. The Calcasieu Parish School Department recognized Saint-Gobain and its subsidiary CertainTeed Corporation for funding and TRA for managing the program for three years.

The ceremony comes at the end of a rewarding 20-year partnership between Saint-Gobain Corporation, TRA and participating school districts, during which over 5,000 elementary and high school students have raised their academic and ESOL levels.

Skills for Life features a multi-media, computerized approach to learning which students find appealing and motivating. After determining their deficiencies, "at risk" students receive customized, individualized instruction to bring their skills up to a level where they can succeed in their classes and pass the state's tests required for graduation.

SFL began in 1989 at South High in Worcester as part of an effort to combat dropout and literacy problems. In 1996 a lab was established at the Worcester Alternative School.

The program was expanded to other cities with Saint-Gobain facilities beginning with Brownsville, TX in 1994; Niagara Falls, NY in 2000; Auburn, WA in 2002; Kansas City, KS in 2005; and Lake Charles in 2007.

For more photos, click here.