Education

Chevron’s Fuel Your School Program Returns to Alameda & Contra Costa Counties

Published

11 years ago

September 2, 2014

Innovative Collaboration with DonorsChoose.org will help generate up to $1 million for local public school teachers and students

Chevron U.S.A. Inc. (NYSE: CVX) today announced the fifth annual launch of its Fuel Your School program in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. This year, the program will expand to 22 U.S. communities to give educators necessary tools for students to learn, explore, and get excited about school, Chevron encourages STEM-related projects, to help prepare students for jobs of the future.

“Chevron is thrilled to support local classrooms through the Fuel Your School program,” said Dale Walsh, president of Chevron Americas Products. “By supporting and encouraging teachers and students in our communities, we are helping our youth receive a quality education and preparing our students to meet the challenges of tomorrow.”

Lastyear, Chevron helped fund projects in 358 public schools in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. This year, Chevron will contribute $1 to help fund eligible classroom projects when consumers purchase 8 or more gallons of fuel from Oct. 1 to Oct. 31 at participating Chevron and Texaco stations, up to a total contribution of $1 million in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties alone.

In the U.S., Fuel Your School is an innovative collaboration between Chevron and DonorsChoose.org, an online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students in need. The program is committed to providing local public school students with the tools and resources needed to help them achieve academic success.

“During the Fuel Your School program, filling up at Chevron means filling local classrooms with the resources to help students and teachers succeed,” said Charles Best, founder and CEO of DonorsChoose.org. “Fuel Your School makes it easy for Chevron and Texaco customers to see their real-time impact on classrooms in their community.”

All year, public school teachers post classroom project requests on DonorsChoose.org, ranging from calculators, to microscopes, and even glowing bacteria. One of those requests came from Abigail Prather, a kindergarten teacher at Ford Elementary School, who lacked the resources to expose students to engaging and exciting activities. With the help of the Fuel Your School program, her students received hands-on teaching tools, allowing them to have a more positive educational experience.

“It is truly wonderful to have companies who support children’s education. The materials Chevron helped fund have made learning more exciting and engaging,” said Abigail Prather. “We were very fortunate to have their support.”

Since its inception in 2010, Fuel Your School has helped fund 17,163 classroom projects at 3,196 schools. The program has grown annually to support students throughout the communities in which Chevron operates, reaching 940,440 students last year.

Chevron also supports similar marketer co-funded programs in Midland and Ector counties, Texas; Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake and Mendocino counties (North Coast), California; Ada and Canyon counties, Idaho; Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale and Lawrence counties (Northwest), Georgia; Jackson and Josephine counties, Oregon; and Yuma County, Arizona, as well as similar international programs in Burnaby, Surrey, White Rock, West Vancouver, North Vancouver, and Coquitlam, British Columbia; Johor and Kedah, Malaysia; and parts of Singapore, Thailand, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

Beginning Sept. 1, 2014, public school teachers in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties are invited to post eligible classroom project requests at www.DonorsChoose.org for possible funding as part of the Fuel Your School program.

By visiting www.FuelYourSchool.com consumers can monitor the classroom projects in need of funding and see how much money is being earned for public schools. Donations earned through Fuel Your School will be used to help fund eligible classroom projects from Oct. 2 through Nov. 30, 2014, or until generated funds have been exhausted by eligible projects. Anyone, including consumers and Chevron employees, may also independently browse and fund inspiring classroom projects on www.DonorsChoose.orgby making separate, individual donations.

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Actor, Philanthropist Blair Underwood Visits Bay Area, Kicks Off Literacy Program in ‘New Oakland’ Initiative

These community activations were coordinated with the San Francisco-based non-profit program “Room to Read.” Ray said he is also donating his time to read and take pictures with students to encourage their engagement and to inspire them to read more. The inspirational book “Clifford Ray Saves the Day” highlights Clifford Ray’s true story of saving a dolphin.

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Blair Underwood (left) and Barbara Lee (right). Courtesy photo.

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The Post mentioned three weeks ago that a number of our local luminaries were coming together to support the “New Oakland” movement. As this current national administration continues to eliminate our “legacy” institutional policies and programs left and right, most communities find themselves beyond “frozen” in fear.

Well, esteemed actor, long-time Bay Area supporter, and philanthropist Blair Underwood returned to Oakland this week to speak with city leaders, community trust agents, students, the Oakland Post, and local celebrities alike to continue his “New Oakland” initiative.

This week, he kicked off his “Guess Who’s Coming to Read” literacy program in some of Oakland’s middle schools. Clifford Ray, who played the center position of the 1975 World Champion Golden State Warriors, donated close to 1,000 books. Ray’s fellow teammate Charles “The Hopper” Dudley also gave Converse sneakers to students.

Underwood also spent quality time with the Oakland Ballers ownership group and visited the amazing Raimondi Park West Oakland community revitalization site. In the 1996 TV film Soul of the Game, Underwood played the role of the legendary first Black Major League Baseball player Jackie Robinson and commended the Ballers owners.

“This group of sports enthusiasts/ philanthropists needs to be applauded for their human capital investment and their financial capital investment,” Underwood said. “Truly putting their money and passion to work,” Underwood said.

Underwood was also inspired by mayoral candidate Barbara Lee’s open-minded invitation to bring public-private partnership opportunities to Oakland.

Underwood said he wants to “reinforce the importance of ‘collaborative activism’ among those most marginalized by non-empathic leadership. We must ‘act out’ our discomfort with passionate intentions to create healthy change.”

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McClymonds High Names School Gym for Star Graduate, Basketball Legend Bill Russell

William “Bill” Felton Russell was born on Feb. 12, 1934, and died on July 31, 2022. He achieved fame as a U.S. professional basketball player who played center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. He was the centerpiece of the Celtics dynasty that won 11 NBA championships during his 13-year career.

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3 weeks ago

February 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Bill Russell and Brian McGhee in McClymonds High School Gym, 2011. Photo courtesy of Brian McGhee.

By Ken Epstein

West Oakland’s McClymonds High School, “the School of Champions,” this week named the school’s gymnasium in honor of one of its most famous graduates, basketball legend Bill Russell (class of ’52).

Russell is widely known as one of the greatest basketball players of all time. In 2011, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civil honor, from President Barack Obama for Russell’s contributions to basketball and the Civil Rights Movement.

The McClymonds’ naming ceremony was held on Wednesday, the same day as Russell’s birthday. Oakland leader Bill Patterson, a longtime friend of Russell’s, was scheduled to cut the ribbon at the reopening of the gym, which had been closed for several months for renovation. Russell’s daughter Karen was scheduled to attend the ribbon cutting.

Russell’s name and signature are now printed on the gymnasium floor.

Patterson was working at DeFremery Park when he met Russell. “I befriended him as a boy and during his years at University of San Francisco” said Patterson. “We stayed friends for the rest of his life.”

Said McClymonds Principal Darielle Davis, herself a McClymonds graduate, “We are excited to honor Bill Russell for his sports accolades and because he broke color barriers. He is part of our legacy, and legacy is really important at McClymonds.”

Brian McGhee, community schools manager at McClymonds and former football player at UC Berkeley, said that Russell meant a lot to him and others at the school. “He was a beacon of light and hope for West Oakland,” he said. “He did a lot for sports and for civil rights.”

Starting in 2018, Ben “Coach” Tapscott worked with Patterson and other McClymonds grads, community members, and former coaches to encourage the Oakland Board of Education to endorse the naming of the school gym, which finally happened recently.

“We worked hard to make this happen,” said Tapscott. “He’s an important part of McClymond’s history, along with a lot of other famous graduates,” he said.

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Tony Thurmond Urges Educators to Stay Focused Amid Federal Funding Battle

In a statement and a letter to California’s local educational agencies (LEAs), Thurmond praised efforts to reduce chronic absenteeism and close achievement gaps, particularly for socioeconomically disadvantaged students. “Now is not the time to be distracted by external efforts to demean and divide,” Thurmond wrote. “Please continue to stay the course with local programs that are producing results. Our students need consistency, support, and community more than ever.”

Published

4 weeks ago

February 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Tony Thurmond. Courtesy of Tony Thurmond’s Facebook page.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond has urged educators to remain focused on student achievement following a court ruling that temporarily blocks the Trump administration from freezing federal funding for schools, health care, law enforcement, and disaster relief.

A U.S. District Court judge in Rhode Island issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) on Jan. 31, halting federal efforts to pause funding while a lawsuit led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 22 other state attorneys general moves forward. Thurmond, a declarant in the case, welcomed the decision and reassured educators that funding for critical school programs remains in place.

“Now is not the time to be distracted by external efforts to demean and divide,” Thurmond wrote. “Please continue to stay the course with local programs that are producing results. Our students need consistency, support, and community more than ever.”

Thurmond emphasized that state officials will continue advocating for stable funding to ensure schools can maintain and expand programs that help students succeed.