ABB awarded a grant of $20,000 through its ABB Foundation to the Franklinton Preparatory Academy (FPA), a public vocational charter school in Columbus, Ohio.

The ABB Foundation grant money was invested to purchase Google Chromebook tablet computers for an Extended Learning Laboratory that is key to the school’s adaptive learning approach.

FPA’s mission is to provide an adaptive learning environment to at-risk youth to ensure that they receive the education they need for a successful life path, whether in the workplace, at college, the military or elsewhere. The school is located in the Franklinton area of Columbus, one of the most economically challenged areas of the state where school dropout rates are high.

“In many respects, Franklinton Preparatory Academy is a recovery school,” Dan Overly, vice president of product management for ABB’s Oil, Gas and Chemicals Business Unit who also serves as president of the FPA School Board said. “It’s a place where kids who have struggled in other school settings can come and succeed in an environment that is adapted to their learning needs. For companies like ABB and our customers to continue to have a bright future in North America, we need every kid to succeed, regardless of the neighborhood they grow up in.

“The ABB Foundation grant is just one way ABB can give back to a community that has served us so well over the 65 years we have operated in central Ohio. One day, Franklinton Preparatory Academy kids may be our employees or our customers. In fact, the father of one of the students has just joined ABB, so we’re already making the connections.”