STEM

Inspiring innovation and imagination

Devon’s future employees must have strong technical know-how and creative problem-solving skills to help us deliver affordable oil and natural gas in an environmentally and socially responsible way.

We believe investing in education can help us build the workforce we need to achieve our technology leadership goals and our vision of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Our social investments are focused on building student capabilities in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). We’re particularly interested in increasing the representation of girls, minorities and rural communities in STEM fields. These groups are a growing part of the workforce whose talents will be needed to fill the increasing number of STEM-related jobs at Devon and in our industry.

As technology for our industry rapidly evolves and transforms our company, people with diverse backgrounds and new ways of looking at problems can help us innovate. We need technology solutions to drill and produce oil and gas efficiently, achieve our aggressive emissions reduction targets and improve safety. At the same time, we’re committed to addressing racial and social inequality wherever it is found. Our investments in STEM education support progress in both of these important areas.

To direct our philanthropic investments to the most promising programs, Devon partners with qualified organizations that have a track record in STEM to identify community needs and solutions. Our partners include the Oklahoma City Public Schools (OKCPS) Foundation and other nonprofits, as well as teachers and administrators from several school districts. Insights from our stakeholder conversations guide us to provide resources and materials to implement programs aimed at empowering groups that have been underserved in the past.

Continuing progress at our original STEM partner school

Devon has supported STEM education with grants to teachers and school programs, investments in STEM centers and contributions to STEM-focused programs for over a decade. We significantly enhanced our STEM capabilities in 2019 by convening local and national nonprofits, corporations and private foundations to develop a new STEM model.

One of our partners, the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation, has been a driving force in changing how students and families interact with STEM resources in schools and communities. The Ripken Foundation transforms outdated school rooms into state-of-the-art STEM resource spaces where STEM learning becomes increasingly integrated into children’s education. Teachers receive training and STEM resources to inspire students and increase their understanding of basic circuitry, coding, robotics, engineering and more.

Our first Ripken STEM center was created in 2019 at Mark Twain Elementary School, Devon’s long-time partner school in Oklahoma City. Recognizing that parent involvement helps determine student success, in 2021 we added STEM camps where families work on STEM challenges together. Parents and students get handson experience with CAD (computer-aided design), welding, construction and math. Families can access food banks and other social services at the camps, as well as get produce from a community garden. The program is so popular that there’s a waiting list to join it.

Mark Twain students and teachers achieved an academic milestone in 2023 when the school received the top grade in the OKCPS district from the Oklahoma Department of Education. The state agency rates public schools based on school report card criteria in six broad categories including academic achievement, academic growth and the English Language Proficiency Assessment (ELPA). After increasing its score annually since 2018 (excluding 2020 and 2021, when scores were not measured due to the pandemic), Mark Twain scored 56.29 in 2023, the highest score in the school district. Mark Twain’s principal credits the school’s progress, in part, to teachers who received financial and academic support through a Devon DEI grant to finish college and earn their teaching certification without any debt. Three teachers at Mark Twain completed this OKCPS Teacher Pipeline program and joined the school administration with masters degrees. In addition, four Mark Twain support staff are in the district’s paraprofessional pipeline program to become certified teachers.

Devon is committed to helping students explore innovative tools and understand high-tech topics at a young age. Based on the success of the STEM model at Mark Twain, we continue to expand STEM resources in other areas where we operate.

Expanding our STEM model

By year-end 2023, Devon had opened a total of 161 STEM centers in elementary schools in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, El Reno and Kingfisher, Oklahoma; Douglas, Wyoming; Cuero, Texas; Dickinson and New Town, North Dakota; and Carlsbad and Roswell, New Mexico. Ripken STEM centers are now installed in every elementary or primary school in Tulsa and on the MHA reservation. We opened four middle school STEM centers in 2023, including our first in New Mexico, after launching STEM labs for all middle schools in OKCPS in 2022.

We achieved another first in our drive to expand STEM education when Devon and the Ripken Foundation installed an adaptive STEM center at Oklahoma City’s Special Care in 2023. It’s the first in the U.S. designed specifically for children and young adults with special needs. The experience at Special Care will help students hone their problem-solving abilities and stretch their imaginations with innovative learning equipment like 3D printers, Snap Circuits, Ozobots and Bee-Bots. Adaptive features include a component that travels to classrooms for students unable to physically visit the STEM center, communication supports, and enhanced instructions and checklists. League of Dreams, a nonprofit dedicated to providing learning opportunities for all individuals, regardless of physical or mental capacity, helped the foundation modify its curriculum and materials to accommodate all abilities.

Our 2024 plans include placing eight additional STEM centers in New Mexico, Texas and Wyoming, and hosting a STEM teacher summit in Oklahoma City for all Devon STEM center partners. The summit will be an opportunity for teachers to learn how to use the STEM products in their center more effectively, share ideas for teaching STEM lessons and network.

Measuring STEM education results

After Devon connected the PSP and the Ripken Foundation, the PSP approved a plan to add a fully equipped STEM center in 134 Permian Basin elementary schools. In 2023, using PSP funding, the foundation partnered with Partnership in Education and Resilience (PEAR) to conduct a five-year evaluation study of the Ripken STEM Initiative using a diverse sample of students participating in PSP-sponsored STEM centers. PEAR’s work bridges research and practice to help ensure that children have positive, high-quality experiences when they participate in school-based STEM activities.

Highlights of data from the most recent pre- and post-PEAR survey of 469 students in the fourth, fifth and sixth grades from four different schools in New Mexico and Texas include:

Girls who were surveyed reported having a greater interest in all ten STEM categories, with the most significant difference being in career knowledge, STEM enjoyment and perseverance
Out of ten data categories, after the survey students showed a significant increase in aptitude and interest in STEM enjoyment, STEM career knowledge, STEM career interest, critical thinking and perseverance

National STEM Lesson Challenge finalist

A student team from the Tulsa Dream Center was selected from among 32 teams to compete in the final round of the Ripken Foundation’s STEM Challenge powered by Devon Energy and XTO Energy in 2023. The two finalist teams were asked to design a prototype for counting money. Devon and the Ripken Foundation installed the STEM-focused Tulsa Dream Center in 2021.

Our signature STEM program has made more than $1 million in grants to educators in our U.S. operating areas in the past nine years. In the Oklahoma City area, Devon’s STEM investments improved access to educational opportunities for more than 88,000 K-12 students. In addition, more than 30 Devon grant programs have enabled Oklahoma teachers to enhance their instructional time with students.

In 2023, the Ripken Foundation and Devon challenged educators and STEM mentors to create and submit original STEM lessons using any of the tools in the Ripken STEM Center. Winners received a piece of the $5,000 prize pool. In addition to using the tools, lessons were reviewed for content and creativity and had to follow the Next Generation Science Standards. New lessons built through the program will be available to all Ripken Centers nationwide.

This multi-year partnership with the University of Tulsa, University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University exposes students to the science, technology, engineering and math behind their favorite sports. Launched in 2022, SportsLab uses athletics to enhance comprehension of scientific concepts like physics and velocity. Students are empowered to improve their performance by better understanding the science behind sports. SportsLabs are held at game-day fan fests, as well as half-day workshops and other venues throughout the state.

We’ve had a long partnership with the Oklahoma City Thunder, whose popularity and visibility help extend the reach of our STEM program. Our joint Explorers program engages young people in STEM activities that explore the science of basketball, and gives special recognition to students who complete STEM challenges. Our programs include Math Hoops, which engages students in the science behind basketball with a fun board game competition. In 2024, we plan to add SportsLabs to our STEM programs with the Thunder.

Devon partners with Boeing to celebrate students who commit to study STEM in college. Similar to sports signing days, our STEM signing day honors students from across Oklahoma who plan to pursue degrees in fields such as electrical engineering, aerospace and biomedical. More than 20 outstanding students were selected for the 2023 class of honorees.

Since 2018, Devon has given fourth and fifth graders a hands-on opportunity to have fun and build STEM skills while solving problems. In 2023, the challenge was to build their own “carnival of the future.” Students had several weeks to plan and design, before coming together for a day at Southwestern Oklahoma State University to create their scaled model and present their designs to the community.

Devon is a long-time partner of the Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma and a lead contributor to Camp Trivera, an urban STEM camp. Campers learn STEM skills, get leadership opportunities and learn the Girl Scout mission to build girls of courage, confidence and character. We created the Devon Terra Trooper patch for the Western Oklahoma Council in 2015, expanding it to southeastern New Mexico in 2020 and Tulsa in 2021. Devon geologists and engineers developed the program to engage girls in earth sciences, geology and related topics using age-appropriate STEM activity kits and leader guides. By year-end 2023, more than 2,200 girls had earned the patch for completing a STEM activity.

Devon cosponsors this program with the Triple-A affiliate of MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers to recognize and reward outstanding third and fourth graders for their science and math achievements. Students from over 400 Oklahoma City classrooms are selected to receive tickets to a game and the opportunity to attend the MVP Field Day featuring STEM activities. Teachers also receive free tickets to an Oklahoma City Baseball Club game where MVPs are honored.

This week-long SAGE camp is designed to empower girls to think about themselves as future scientists, mathematicians and computer specialists. Campers take interactive field trips to explore various Devon departments where STEM learning has led our professionals to rewarding careers. In 2023, Devon interns volunteered at the SAGE STEAM camp at Southwestern Oklahoma State University, where they saw the girls’ eagerness to learn while providing guidance during the competition.

Our partnership with the Oklahoma and Wyoming FFA encourages students to consider the intersections of the agriculture and oil and gas industries. Select students from both states excelled at the 2023 National FFA Convention, bringing home first place in five of the overall 36 judged categories with an additional 20 projects receiving gold ranking, the highest available at the national contest.

We’ve been a sponsor of FIRST Robotics in Oklahoma since 2017. The six-week competition pairs teams of young people from across Oklahoma with local engineers, professors and business professionals to solve engineering design problems. FIRST (which stands for “For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology”) is a nonprofit founded in 1989 to inspire young people to join the field of science and technology.

The mission of the Central Oklahoma STEM Alliance is to enhance STEM education. Devon supports COSTEMA’s STEM Leadership Academy, a virtual event that inspires educators by providing professional development opportunities centered around personal leadership, hands-on learning and peer engagement. The educators explore STEM learning and family engagement, with all their STEM learning culminating in the Scissortail Kite Festival.

In partnership with the Carlsbad Community Foundation, Devon hosts a one-week STEM-focused summer camp for third through fifth graders throughout the Permian Basin region. Students identified as disadvantaged by school counselors receive free admission. The campers are exposed to STEM-related careers, and learn how to solve problems and apply critical-thinking skills during hands-on activities.

The Paper Takes Flight event combines the fun of hot-air ballooning with an education in the science of energy for all fifth graders enrolled in Artesia Public Schools in New Mexico. Students work together to build six-foot balloon envelopes from tissue paper that will launch using heat energy. This engaging, hands-on activity focused on engineering, math and thermodynamics expands on classroom curriculum.

In this annual competition, Devon pays for students to travel to Houston to present their rocket designs to a team from NASA.