Horizon helps fulfill its Pledge 1% goals for both time and profit through its robust partnership with Perspectives Math & Science Academy (MSA), a high school located on Chicago’s south side focused on educating the whole child. Providing classroom instruction isn’t enough to help these students get and stay on a path of personal success.  Daily, many students confront poverty, violence and trauma, which affects how they show up in the classroom and can derail them at any point during their academic journey.

Tech-LabHorizon’s partnership with MSA began in December of 2016, with a holiday donation drive for MSA’s 50 homeless students.  Due to the generosity of employees, Horizon was able to provide the homeless students and their families a brighter holiday.

Since then, Horizon has expanded the partnership with MSA to focus on three main areas of impact: infrastructure support, programming support and employee engagement.

Horizon’s infrastructure support led to the addition of water stations throughout the school, so the students can access lead-free water.  Additionally, Horizon was able to underwrite the cost of students creating and installing multiple large mosaics at the school, construct a peace and meditation room, a central front office, a technology lab, as well as paint the rod iron exterior fence.

Screen-Shot-2017-08-30-at-8.59.43-AM-600x342Horizon underwrites several programs at the school, including the robotics club, a personalized math, science and humanities curriculum, an entrepreneurship class, a drone after school program, a poetry club, and a workshop series on storytelling and documentary film making.

Horizon employees have donated more than tens of thousands of dollars through its quarterly donation drives, as well as more than 100 hours of their time to help beautify the school and mentor the students. Employees are frequent visitors at the school, conducting mock interviewing sessions and talking with the students about their STEM career paths.  Additionally, employees have leveraged their day-to-day jobs in creative ways that lead to impact.  For example, our IT department has donated 133 refurbished laptops and 10 printers and our facilities team has donated more than 100 items of furniture no longer needed.

Providing resources that help meet the school’s infrastructure, programming and students’ social emotional needs has been incredibly rewarding, but the personal connection between students and Horizon employees has been the most inspiring.  Students are encouraged to grow intellectually and explore STEM career options, while Horizon employees have internalized that they can positively influence the local community at a personal level with the support of their company.