Thirteen years ago, I began teaching history at Wings Academy, a public high school in the Bronx. My new students and colleagues were awesome, but I could see that the school did not have the same resources as the schools I’d attended.
At my old high school, we went on field trips; we had graphing calculators and were given the supplies
to do just about any art project. We did not want for anything.
Not so for my students in the Bronx. I saw first-hand that all schools are not created equal.
My colleagues and I spent a lot of our own money on copy paper and pencils, but we often couldn’t afford the resources to get our students excited about learning. We’d talk about books our students should read, a field trip we wanted to take, or a microscope that would bring science to life.
I figured there were people out there who wanted to help our students, if they could see where their money was going. So, using a pencil and paper, I drew a website where teachers could post classroom project requests and donors could choose a project they wanted to support.
Thirteen years later, our website has channeled educational materials to 9 million students, the majority from low-income communities and many of whom are learning English as a second language. Our site has connected more than 1 million donors and will help bring more than $55 million in resources to classrooms this school year. This support — from schools, teachers, school districts, community members and collaborations with companies like Chevron — is helping to offset the more than $1.6 billion teachers spent last year on their classrooms nationwide.
We’re proud of the calculators, microscopes and books that we’ve delivered to 161,000 teachers across the United States. But there’s still a lot of work to be done, especially in the area of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.
While roughly 75 percent of our nation’s high school students are not proficient in mathematics when they complete 12th grade, the U.S. Dept. of Labor projects that 15 of the 20 fastest-growing occupations in 2014 will require math or science to successfully compete for jobs.
To help keep large industries competitive in Hawaii, we need to help students gain the skills to be successful in the occupations of the future. School budgets are tight.
It’s going to take a lot to strength-en teaching models — and in Hawaii, Chevron has been a champion for teachers, including those who teach STEM education, for quite some time. Since 2010, Fuel Your School, an innovative teacher-based program, has affected more than 1 million students by helping fund projects teachers post on DonorsChoose.org.
This year, Chevron has brought its Fuel Your School program to Hawaii. For every purchase of eight or more gallons of fuel at a participating station in October, Chevron contributed $1, up to a total of $350,000 in Hawaii, to fund eligible public school classroom projects posted by teachers. Funds are still available, and teachers are urged to post their projects this month.
Since 2010, Chevron’s Fuel Your School program has helped fund 8,915 classroom projects at 1,924 schools nationwide. In Hawaii, this includes projects such as at Pearl Harbor Elementary School, where Mrs. Kim received counting games and number activities, which allows her students to learn the basics of addition and subtraction in a fun way, as an alternative to memorization and timed tests.
You can make an impact, too. Visit www.FuelYourSchool.com to see the materials teachers are requesting in your area and from which schools — and encourage teachers in your participating school district to post their projects today.
Right now, we have the opportunity to help more students get the materials they need in their classrooms, including those to help prepare them for the STEM careers of the future.
