Chevron U.S.A. Inc. has announced the launch of the Fuel Your School program in Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale and Lawrence Counties.

The Northwest Alabama Fuel Your School program will give educators necessary tools for students to learn and get excited about their education. Chevron encourages science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) related projects.

“It’s great to see the collaboration between local business, Chevron and DonorsChoose.org to help increase learning opportunities for students,” said Brent Tippen, Public and Government Affairs Representative for Chevron.

“It’s great to be able to come together as a community and help our students.”

Chevron, with the help of Baggett Oil, Sibley Oil and Vulcan Oil, is working with DonorsChoose.org to help fund eligible classroom projects at local public schools. The Fuel Your School program makes it easy for consumers to help fund projects for public school classrooms in their local communities.

From Oct. 1 through Oct. 31, 2014, the Fuel Your School program will donate $1, up to $75,000, to help fund eligible classroom projects when consumers purchase eight or more gallons of fuel at a participating Chevron or Texaco station in Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale and Lawrence Counties. Donations earned through the Fuel Your School program will be used to help fund eligible classroom projects from Oct. 2 through Nov. 30, 2014, or until funds generated by this program have been exhausted by eligible projects.

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 Maya Dudte, teacher at Oak Park Elementary School, who lacked the resources to expose students to engaging and effective scientific experiments. With the help of the Fuel Your School program, she and her students received hands-on teaching tools, allowing her students to learn by doing.

“With the help of Chevron’s generous donation, our kindergarten students were given the opportunity for hands-on discovery and learning,” Dudte said.

“Each resource that was provided fostered a learning environment that strengthened the foundational skills needed to promote language development, math, science and sensory exploration.”

Since its inception in 2010, Fuel Your School has helped fund 17,163 classroom projects at 3,196 K-12 public schools as project funding has increased annually from up to $1 million in 2010 to up to $8.6 million for the 2014 program. 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 and traditional Fuel Your School programs in 21 other U.S. markets as well as similar international programs.

Beginning Sept. 1, 2014, public school teachers in Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale and Lawrence Counties have been invited to post eligible classroom project requests at www.DonorsChoose.org for possible funding as part of the Fuel Your School program.

“During the Fuel Your School campaign, filling up at Chevron or Texaco 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.”

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. Anyone, including consumers and Chevron employees, may also independently browse and fund inspiring classroom projects on www.DonorsChoose.org by making separate, individual donations.