CAIRO, May 23 -- As part of her Middle East tour, U.S. first lady Laura Bush today visited a one-room school funded by Apache Corporation (NYSE, Nasdaq: APA) to provide the first opportunity for education for young Egyptian girls in the village of Abu Sir.

The girl-friendly school is one of 100 planned by U.S. nonprofit Springboard - Educating the Future, which was launched by Apache to improve educational opportunities for Egyptian girls.

Apache is a large U.S. independent oil and gas company and the largest U.S. investor in Egypt.

The Apache-funded school is operated by the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood as part of Egypt's Girls' Education Initiative, which was launched in 2003 by Egyptian first lady Suzanne Mubarak. Mrs. Mubarak joined Mrs. Bush at the school on Monday.

Apache funded the $15,000 cost to build and furnish the Abu Sir school. The school is designed to provide a user-friendly safe environment for modern educational techniques. Built to use prevailing winds for cooling; windows and high ceilings for optimal natural lighting; and sun breaks to prevent overheating, the design will be replicated in other villages.

Based on the success of the prototype school and fundraising support from Apache employees, directors and other families, Springboard is nearing completion on six schools and is preparing to break ground on 10 more, all in the Fayoum governorate southwest of Cairo.

"As part of Apache's commitment to global citizenship, we seek to extend our values and contribute toward improving the communities and nations in which we operate," said Apache Founder and Chairman Raymond Plank, speaking from Houston. "Building schools for young girls in Egypt is a natural extension of Apache's longtime commitment to education."