by Staff Reports

Funding for schools is a consistent challenge and without enough funding students are often put at a disadvantage and teachers are handicapped in their ability to provide the tools and guidance that students need.

But some participating oil companies in the county were a part  of a large fundraising effort recently.

Chevron U.S.A. Inc., Baggett Oil, Sibley Oil and Vulcan Oil announced that the 2014 Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale and Lawrence counties Fuel Your School program generated $75,000, helping to fund 56 local public school classroom projects. Twenty of the classrooms support science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) curriculum. Over 5,500 students were impacted by this program.

Through the Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale and Lawrence counties Fuel Your School program, valuable classroom resources were provided to teachers at 32 local public schools.

During the month of October, one dollar was donated when consumers purchased eight or more gallons of fuel at participating Chevron and Texaco stations in Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale and Lawrence counties, generating $75,000, to help fund eligible classroom projects at local public schools through DonorsChoose.org.

“We are pleased to have participated in the Fuel Your School program to support our dedicated teachers and students,” said Phil Baggett, President of Baggett Oil Co., headquartered in Florence, Alabama.  “We thank our community for their continued support of this worthy program that has helped us raise much needed funds to support learning at our local schools.”

Chevron supports STEM initiatives to arm students with the critical skills they will need to succeed in jobs of the future. The Fuel Your School program is part of Chevron’s larger commitment to educational programs in the U.S., which in 2014 surpassed $45 million and has totaled over $140 million since 2010. Working with other organizations, Chevron takes a holistic approach to investments in education by getting students excited about STEM, supporting educational standards and proven curricula, and supporting teacher training.

“Fuel Your School is a great example of what we can achieve when companies, schools and nonprofits come together to help solve problems,” said Brent Tippen, Public and Government Affairs Advisor for Chevron Corporation. “We’re proud that through this program so many teachers and students have benefitted by receiving classroom materials they need for critical learning in subjects, including science and math.”

This year, the Fuel Your School program generated over $8.6 million for local classrooms in 22 U.S. communities and positively impacted more than 700,000 students with needed supplies. In 2014, Chevron fully funded the traditional Fuel Your School program in 16 U.S. markets and local Chevron and Texaco marketers helped fund six additional markets.

Since its inception in 2010, Fuel Your School has helped fund more than 23,500 classroom projects at more than 4,000 schools in the U.S. The program has grown each year to support students in various communities where Chevron has business operations.