Chevron hands out $250,000 for classroom projects

Fifth-graders at Garfield Elementary School were surprised Tuesday morning when two boxes of egg drop STEM kits were delivered to their classroom.

“I was shocked,” said fifth-grader Abbaoyne Cutter. “These activities really challenge me.”

Books, kits, supplies and STEM materials were requested by teacher Sonia Galaviz on DonorsChoose.org and paid for by Chevron.

“My students inspire me,” Galaviz said. “This allows me to bring opportunities to students so each one is successful in my classroom.”

Galaviz’s STEM supplies cost $896 and were funded through the Fuel Your School program. The money is raised through the community that chooses to fill up at a local Chevron or Texaco station during the month of October, with Chevron donating $1 for each tank filled to DonorsChoose.org.

“Access and equity in STEM education is critical,” Galaviz said. “I truly believe these activities will get kids excited and be successful with science early on in life.”

Galaviz’s has 28 students in her class with 12 kids learning English from countries around the world — Albania, Congo, Iraq, Mexico, Nepal and Syria. She has students with special needs, including autism, dyslexia and Asperger’s and kids who live in homeless shelters.

“I can’t always fix or help reduce the stress of the home or erase difficult events that my students have experienced,” Galaviz said. “I am able to give them 100 percent of my effort to design experiences that can hopefully elevate their learning and create change agents within each one of my students.”

Students will design circuits, build robots, create ecosystems, explore makerspace, engage with engineering and design and experience hands-on STEM. Students will document their work in journals and showcase their learning for the school and their families.

This month, public school teachers from Ada and Canyon counties who have active DonorsChoose.org projects could get funded by Chevron. The program will generate up to $250,000 in October, which will help fund classroom supplies and materials, including those focused on science, technology, engineering, math and hands-on activities to help connect real world experiences to classroom learning.

“(Galaviz) is a hero to these students,” said Mikal Ann Byrd, a Chevron representative.

Last year, 322 classroom projects were funded on DonorsChoose.org, impacting 40,591 Idaho students. For more information about the Fuel Your School program and to track local projects in need of funding, click here.