Public school teachers often spend some of their own money when purchasing supplies for their classrooms. On Tuesday, Oct. 10, a Boise teacher received a special delivery, thanks to a program called "Fuel Your School," which helps ease the stress put on a teacher's wallet.
The students in Sonia Galaviz's fifth grade class are busy coming up with ways to drop an uncooked egg from the roof of Garfield Elementary School, without having it break.
"We have a lot of big ideas," said Kimberly Bernal Fernandez, a fifth-grader. "It's really fun."
Thanks to Fuel Your School, Galaviz's students have the supplies needed for this experiment, as well as books, batteries and circuit equipment for future STEM-related projects.
"They're doing engineering and design and revision, and then coming up with a hypothesis," said Galaviz. "Throughout the week, they'll continue to re-design their model."
All in all, Galaviz's classroom has about $800 in new materials.
"It's not like they're overly complicated materials, but it just takes money and support to be able to provide those things every year and for every class that you serve."
For the past three years, the program has raised a quarter of a million dollars for public schools in Ada and Canyon Counties.
Money is raised with the help of Chevron, Texaco and other local businesses.
"We want to make sure our teachers have every advantage that they can, so the students can have their advantages," said Mikal Byrd, Chevron spokeswoman.
And this particular advantage will go a long way.
"It doesn't matter the country that you come from, your English language ability, if you have challenges in the home," Galaviz said. "...everybody loves science and everybody is hands-on. Every kid can be successful and have their voice heard."
