Fuel Up to Play 60 Focuses on Integrating Fitness and Wellness into the School Day

Schools across the country continue to try to do more with less, and budgets are squeezed and classroom sizes begin to bulge. Funding from any source is a welcome relief, and in Utah and California, that help comes from an unlikely source – the gas pump. The Fuel Your School program launched by Chevron in both Utah and California was a big success last year, and this year, the company and the schools involved with the program hope to see the same positive results.

What is Fuel Your School?

Fuel Your School is a program introduced to California and Utah communities by Chevron and DonorsChoose.org. This large company and non-profit organization are teaming up to provide teachers with much-needed supplies for the classroom. The focus of the funding is on STEM learning, so additional money typically goes to help science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-related projects. However, other types of projects are also eligible for funding from this program.

The premise of the program is relatively easy – to raise money for your school, simply fill your gas tank at one of the participating Chevron stations during the month of October. For every eight gallons of gas you purchase, Chevron donates $1 to the school. Last year, the initial launch of Fuel Your School in California raised more than $850,000 for the schools in the California communities, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Helping Schools in California and Utah

According to the Fuel

High school students' graduation rates and academic success are a primary concern in many school districts nationwide. This is especially true in light of the current administration has recent focus on higher education to remain competitive in the global marketplace. However, the concerns and needs don’t always match the actual data from high schools today – when accurate data can be collected. Naviance Succeed was created to help schools along the way and promote college and career readiness for the high school students who need it most. Is Naviance Succeed working? We’ll look at the innovative program and some schools adopting it.

The Science behind Naviance Succeed

Although most schools have assessment and curriculum systems today, most programs are designed with the educator in mind. Naviance Succeed is a student-centered approach to secondary education that provides sufficient support and resources to ensure students succeed in the public school system. According to the Naviance website, the program is designed with integrated tools that consider the following factors:

• Success Planning—Naviance Succeed allows customizing college and career readiness programs at the school and district levels. Programs can target specific age groups or other demographics as needed.
• Career Planning—In addition to ensuring students are career-ready, Naviance Succeed offers tools to help students find the perfect career by introducing a wide range of choices.
• Course Planning—A large portion of preparing for a career or college is the right schedule

In an economic climate where many families are literally counting pennies to make ends meet, a higher price on anything is rarely good news. For some parents, increases on school lunch costs across the country are putting yet another crimp in budgets that are already stretched about as tight as they can get. However, higher prices are just what many schools are introducing this year, as legislation that passed the White House last year goes into effect for this academic school year. The good news is that along with those higher prices come healthier menu selections that promise to keep kids in top learning condition throughout the school day.

The Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010

Many of the price increases seen in school cafeterias this year can be attributed to the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 that was signed into law by President Obama last December. This act, championed by First Lady Michelle Obama, takes a number of steps to ensure school-age children get the proper nutrition and that families that cannot afford school lunches receive federal assistance in this area. According to the USDA Food and Nutrition website, the programs impacted by the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act include:

• National School Lunch Program
• School Breakfast Program
• Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC)
• Summer Food Service Program
• Child and Adult Care Food Service Program

While people across the country stand to benefit from one or many of these programs, the

School districts nationwide have been dealing with smaller budgets and fewer resources since the economy came to a grinding halt just a few short years ago. In most cases, this meant less to go around for teachers and administrators. In Tacoma, Washington, teachers have determined that the proposed cuts by the school district simply didn’t “cut it” as far as they were concerned. To make their disapproval of the pending changes plainly known, the Tacoma teachers union called a strike, which is now in its second week of the brand new school year.

The Strike Unfolds

As the district grappled with various issues before the start of this school year, some of the decisions that were made did not go over well with the teachers who work in Tacoma. There are three basic issues on the table: teacher pay cuts, increases in class sizes, and the way the district wants to handle teacher transfers. All of these issues are still in discussion, and no agreement has been reached on any of them.

According to the News Tribune, teachers who request transfers have their requests processed based solely on teacher seniority. The district has proposed that future decisions entail seniority, teacher evaluations, and assessments. Adding the additional criteria ensures that the most effective teachers in the district will get the first pick of teaching assignments. The union has argued that this process would be subjective and unfair to teachers who have worked in the district for many years