There is still time for School District 43 teachers to apply for grants to support science, math, engineering and technology projects through Fuel Your School run by My Class Needs.
But the Coquitlam Teachers' Association would rather they didn't.
The Fuel Your School program - paid for with $1 per 30 litres of gas purchased at Chevron gas stations in Coquitlam - has $100,000 available for SD43 projects (based on local gas purchases from last year) but, so far, only about a third of the money has been claimed, according to Chevron spokesperson Adrien Byrne.
Programs that have already been funded include two at Port Moody elementary schools: an iPad learning project at Pleasantside and an engineering project at Heritage Mountain, where students are learning about world famous architecture and building their own projects with hand tools.
Some of the materials teachers are asking for include tools for math games, a house centre to enhance play for kindergarten students and a SMARTBoard that connects to the internet.
Last week, only 22 schools had signed up. This week, a few more local schools are asking for funds for projects and Byrne suspects concerns raised by Vancouver School Board and the BC Teachers' Federation about Fuel Your School may be the reason applications have been slow to materialize.
Fuel Your School was a hot topic at VSB and during the recent election campaign and was opposed by the BCTF at a representative assembly Nov. 7 and 8 on the grounds that it replaces funding that should be provided by the provincial government.
But the program is also new, only approved by the SD43 board of education in May of this year, and Byrne said kindergarten to Grade 12 teachers still need to learn about it.
In the Tri-Cities, where recent budget cuts have slashed supplies for schools, the board approved the fundraising program but the Coquitlam Teachers' Association is against it. CTA president Charley King said it's his opinion that busy teachers don't have time to "jump through hoops for one-time funding grants" and he is suspicious of the international oil company's intentions.
"I always find it concerning when private corporations offer money with no strings attached," King said. "There are strings attached in terms of people competing for a small pot of money.
"If Chevron wants to be a good neighbour, I think they should pay their fair share of taxes. Ordinary families pay enough and oil companies are making record profits."
NO LOGOS, PROMOTION REQUIRED
But Chevron's Byrne said people are opposing Fuel Your School without understanding the program's intentions to promote teaching and learning in so-called STEM areas (science, technology, engineering, math) and he emphasized that there is no expectation that schools promote Chevron. He also noted that Facebook posts showing the Chevron logo are from the U.S., where the program is different than it is in Canada.
"When we approached every participating school district early in the year, this was the topic of conversation in those meetings. We said, 'Look, it's not a requirement of the program, we don't anticipate doing any corporate advertising like we do in the States,'" he said, noting that the program can be tailored to the needs of each district's policy on sponsorship.
Byrne also pointed out that the grants are disbursed by an independent non-profit organization called My Class Needs, which posts eligibility requirements on its website.
My Class Needs CEO Amy Coupal confirmed that there is no relationship between Chevron and her organization, which runs the crowdfunding website that started in 2012 in Ontario and operates in five provinces, including B.C. and Ontario. Any school can use it to apply for projects and people can make donations online based on their support for the project's aims. For the Fuel Your School projects, the public can add to funds provided by Chevron.
Some of the projects My Class Needs has funded include live animal specimens for chicken and fish hatcheries. "It's up to the teachers to think of what the vision is for the project and to identify the resources they need and what we do is let people know about them," Coupal said.
She added that its also important to note that there are no Chevron logos on any of the materials provided to teachers who apply for Fuel Your School grants.
"Our job is to get those resources and have them shipped to the school," Coupal said, explaining that shipping costs are included in the grant application.
The grant application deadline is Dec. 31, 2015. To find out more, visit www.myclassneeds.ca.
@dstrandbergTC
