While no longer operating the refineries adjacent to Roxana High School, Shell Oil Co. reminded Roxana it was still a part of the community through a $50,000 grant to the Roxana Schools Foundation.
The money will enable the completion of a new multipurpose student center at Roxana High School. According to Roxana Spt. Debra Kreutztrager, the center will give high school students a place to gather outside of normal school hours. The facility will offer study areas, a student-run coffee shop called Cafe de Shell and a technology center for students, among other amenites.
To present the check to the foundation, Ed Platt, manager at Shell Oil Products, U.S., traveled from Texas. Platt gave the gathering of students, school district representatives and Shell representatives a small speech invoking Shell’s previous contributions to the Roxana School District and the community of Roxana as a whole. He said a donation from Shell in the 1940s allowed the high school to be built. Platt added the high school was one of the best in the state upon its completion.
“While we no longer run the refinery, our company is committed to this community, and it’s important to our organization to identify opportunities to demonstrate our continuing commitment to the communities where we have done business,” Platt said. “When we learned about the plans for the multipurpose student center here at Roxana High School, it seemed like the perfect opportunity. Shell places a priority on projects or initiatives within our key focus areas of community, education and environment, and this project spans two of those focus areas —both education and community.”
Before the announcement of the grant, Roxana High School was already updating the former cafeteria to convert it into a modern media center for students. The project was designed in cooperation between the Roxana School District and Louer Facility Planning Inc., which designed and is creating the center.
Yvette Paris, design director at Louer, said the original cafeteria was not a “very welcoming space.” Louer interior designer Dani Sheley agreed, noting the tiles were a fading shade of eggshell blue. Paris said the design brainstorm of the area reflected the district’s commitment to its students.
“We all sat down for coffee and put our heads together,” Paris said. “We provided them with our tools and resources and listened to their visions and revisions. What they’re doing here is very different than anything in other high schools in the area.”