Bolstered by corporate donations, the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce launched two education initiatives at its 81st annual banquet Friday night.

A $250,000 gift from AT&T will be used to start a dropout-prevention program, which also will steer high school students toward careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Called STEM for the four careers, the program will operate within San Antonio Independent School District.

A second program, called MicroSociety, will operate at Adams Elementary School in Harlandale Independent School District.

Also announced Friday night was a $50,000 gift from San Antonio businessman and chamber member Max Navarro, which the chamber will use to enhance its small-business services.

The STEM program will be patterned after the Hispanic Engineering Science and Technology Conference at the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg, chamber President Ramiro Cavazos said before the banquet, attended by about 1,400 people at the Grand Hyatt downtown.

Two thousand SAISD students will be selected by the district, assisted by a chamber program coordinator, on the basis of dropout risk and interest in science, technology, engineering and math.

The students will tour college campuses this spring. In the fall, the chamber will stage an exposition in which all area colleges and universities can participate.

“Students will be able to see they can overcome obstacles,” Cavazos said. “Our goal is to leverage the $250,000 gift with new corporate sponsors to make it a $500,000 program, like in the (Rio Grande) Valley,” he added.

Hispanic chamber members are encouraged to become mentors to the students selected for STEM, Cavazos said.

The chamber will set aside $50,000 from the AT&T gift for scholarships.

“Encouraging students to complete high school and go on to college and successful careers is our top civic priority,” AT&T Texas President Don Cain said.

In Philadelphia-based MicroSociety Inc.'s program, elementary students are organized into city government and business organizations. They elect a mayor and appoint people to run a bank, grocery store and chamber of commerce.

For an afternoon every two weeks, the students govern and make business transactions using play money.

“This will teach them the value of the math they are learning and why spelling and reading are important,” Cavazos said. “Students tell their parents they are going to work the next day.”

The program improves school attendance, teaches public speaking and boosts self-confidence, he added.

The “city” will be called Adamsville. Several Adams Elementary students participated in a ceremony during the banquet to mark the program's start.

The school's population is 96 percent Hispanic and 90 percent low-income, Cavazos said.

Companies including H-E-B and Laredo-based International Bank of Commerce are helping sponsor the MicroSociety program.

Navarro, who joined the chamber in 1988, is a co-founder of Operational Technologies Corp. and a partner with Vuteq of Japan, a top-tier supplier for the San Antonio Toyota Motor Co. assembly plant.

In making the donation, Navarro cited the chamber's assistance to OpTech in securing government contracts.

“This $50,000 gift is to further ensure that the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce will continue to assist small business owners reach their goals. I encourage every business owner to fully utilize the resources the Hispanic Chamber provides,” Navarro said.

Also at the event, the chamber's 2010 chairman was introduced: Norma Martinez Lozano, a 15-year veteran of AT&T and the first Hispanic to be appointed an officer at the company.

The evening was capped with the traditional tequila toast.