Chevron U.S.A. Inc. announced the launch of its 2019 Fuel Your School program on the Mississippi Gulf Coast with a special delivery of hands-on science experiment kits to West Hancock County Elementary in Hancock County on Sept. 30.
Local public schools are participating in the Fuel Your School program, a collaboration between Chevron and DonorsChoose.org, a non-profit crowdsourcing website, to help fund eligible classroom project requests submitted by teachers who don’t have the necessary resources for their students. This year, Fuel Your School expanded to include the Mississippi Gulf Coast Counties of Jackson, Harrison, Hancock and the cities of Lucedale, MS, and Mobile, AL.
Chevron representatives delivered the class project supplies to Mrs. Sours during a special classroom presentation. To celebrate the program expansion, similar presentations will be held at schools in Biloxi, Gautier, Lucedale, and Mobile.
From Oct. 1 through Oct. 31, 2019, when consumers fill up with eight or more gallons at a participating Chevron or Texaco station, Chevron will donate $1, up to $175,000, to help fund eligible classroom projects for public schools in the Mississippi Gulf Coast Counties of Jackson, Harrison, Hancock and the cities of Lucedale, MS and Mobile, AL.
Last year, St. Martin Middle School students received Spheros through Fuel Your School project funding. Spheros are small robot balls that teach students coding, computational thinking, and problem-solving skills.
“To get eighth-graders so excited about a project that they go home and do homework – that I haven’t assigned – so they can code and bring it back to the classroom, that’s phenomenal in itself,” said teacher Julie Massey.
Through the Fuel Your School program, Chevron aims to thank and support K-12 public school teachers for their role in inspiring students by helping to fund eligible classroom projects, including projects for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education to help prepare students who may be interested in these types of advanced technical jobs.
In 2018, Chevron’s Fuel Your School program helped fund 70 classroom projects at 37 schools in Jackson County. Since its inception in 2010, Fuel Your School has helped fund 55,072 classroom projects at 6,480 schools in the U.S.
Nationwide, more than $5 million will be available during October to help fund classroom projects posted on DonorsChoose.org in 16 U.S. communities, including one with the help of the College Football Playoff Foundation. For the first time, Chevron has also collaborated with financial wellness app Acorns Grow Incorporated (“Acorns”) to provide up to $500,000 when Acorns customers make fuel purchases at any Chevron or Texaco station to help fund classroom projects as part of the digital Fuel Your School program.
“Cheers to Chevron’s Fuel Your School program – 10 years in, more than $48 million in funding for classroom projects and still going strong,” said Andy Walz, president of Americas Products at Chevron. “Through our collaboration with DonorsChoose.org that is vital to our success, we’ve helped fund more than 55,000 classroom projects, benefitting nearly 35,000 teachers. But the best part is knowing this program excites students and encourages them to learn, empowers teachers and helps make our communities stronger.”
The Fuel Your School project submission period for public school teachers in participating areas is now open on DonorsChoose.org. From Oct. 1 through Oct. 31, 2019, when consumers purchase eight or more gallons of fuel at participating Chevron or Texaco stations, Chevron will donate $1, up to that area’s cap, to help fund eligible classroom projects.
In addition, Acorns customers who make a fuel purchase between $20 and $125 at any Chevron or Texaco station in October will be rewarded with a $0.25 investment into their Acorns account, which they can choose to donate to support the digital Fuel Your School program and help fund classroom projects posted by teachers in the state that the fuel purchase is made. Chevron will then match that donated reward by adding $0.75, resulting in a $1 donation, up to a total of $500,000. Chevron will also match direct donations from Acorns customers, up to $5,000 per customer, to classroom projects posted on DonorsChoose.org in October.
“We’re motivated by opportunities that bring our products and collaborators together on behalf of financial wellness,” said Noah Kerner, CEO of Acorns. “The Fuel Your School program is a natural fit, not only because Chevron is a valued Found Money provider, but because we’re behind any effort to help advance learning opportunities to students in the U.S.”
Since its inception in 2010, the Fuel Your School program has raised more than $48 million in the U.S., which has helped fund 55,072 classroom projects at 6,480 public schools, benefitting 34,568 teachers. This program is part of Chevron’s overall support for education, which has totaled over $480 million worldwide since 2013, helping to provide teachers with the tools to prepare students for the technical jobs of the future.
“Many teachers spend hundreds of dollars out of pocket to pay for classroom supplies each year,” said Charles Best, founder and CEO of DonorsChoose.org. “Over the past 10 years, with the help of Chevron and local communities, we’ve brought classroom dreams to life for thousands of teachers and students through the Fuel Your School program, getting one step closer to our goal of ensuring students in every community have the tools and experiences they need for a great education.”
For a full list of participating communities in the Fuel Your School program and to see Official Rules, please visit www.FuelYourSchool.com. In addition to funds generated through the Fuel Your School program, anyone, including consumers and Chevron employees, may also support inspiring classroom projects on DonorsChoose.org by making separate, individual contributions.
