Teachers energized by Chevron

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KCSOS employees celebrating grants from Chevron were (from left) Special Education Programs Director Julianna Gaines, teacher/recipient Kevin Crosby, Superintendent of Schools Christine Lizardi Frazier, teacher/recipient Jessica Acevedo, Principal Brian Cortez and Special Education Services Administrator Pam Sanders.

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Richardson Child Development Center teacher Jessica Acevedo had a grateful smile receiving her grant from Chevron’s Adam Alvidrez.

How do you help a teacher engage autistic students in learning? How do you let special needs children discover life in the seas around them? Chevron had an answer for those questions and 55 others raised by teachers needing some extra funding for classroom projects. Chevron awarded a total of nearly $50,000 in “Energy for Learning Classroom Grants” to 57 deserving teachers in an Aug. 11 ceremony at the oil company’s Bakersfield location.

Among the recipients were three Kern County Superintendent of Schools’ (KCSOS) special needs teachers, Jessica Acevedo, Nicole Cameron and Kevin Crosby.

Acevedo received a $1,000 grant for her classroom project, “Using Technology to Engage, Learn and Connect.” She teaches 3-6 year-old, moderate to severe autism students at the KCSOS Claude W. Richardson Child Development Center in Bakersfield. It was her first time applying for a grant. Acevedo had to summarize the proposed project, which included researching the tools she would be using and how her students would benefit. She said Chevron made the process “smooth and rewarding,” and she is definitely thinking about applying again next year.

“I am super excited,” Acevedo said. “My kids will really, really enjoy the two netbooks I will purchase for the classroom and a year’s subscription to www.TeachTown.com. The students will be engaged by the program’s exciting visuals and learn to use the ‘Applied Behavior Analysis’ approach we practice in the classroom. The program takes data on the students’ progress and allows parents to login at home, so they can track their progress, too. My kids love computers and this will be awesome for them.”

Cameron, who teaches mild, moderate specific handicap students for KCSOS at Independence Elementary in Bakersfield, was unable to attend the ceremony but will receive a $750 Chevron grant for her classroom project, “Building Literacy and Language.”

Crosby, KCSOS teacher of moderate/severe handicap students at Sunset School in Lamont, is a four-time recipient of the grant. This time it was for $1,000 for “Project Ocean Science.” Crosby said it will provide his students “with a comprehensive, hands-on unit on underwater sea life that spans the curriculum.” On his buying list were many visual and touch-sensory items, such as interactive sea life replicas, classroom aquarium, “feel and discover ocean bag,” sea creature math counters and more. The props will aid his students’ vocabulary and oral language, sorting, counting, measuring, and gross and fine motor skills, as well as help them learn about sea creatures and their habitats.

“All of my students are at pre-K (kindergarten) cognitive level and have significant language delays,” Crosby said. “They are visual and kinesthetic learners, who learn the most when they can see objects, manipulate them with their hands, and feel their textures. I am again extremely grateful to Chevron.”

Kern County Superintendent of Schools Christine Lizardi Frazier attended the event and was gratified by what she saw. “In these times of economic stress, it is refreshing and motivating to see the excitement in which teachers are approaching their very innovative projects,” Frazier said. “One teacher in response to her award said, ‘this will really help kids, and we are excited and willing to take this project on.’ That reaffirmed my pride in being an educator, and I want to thank Chevron for making these funds available to our very deserving teachers throughout Kern County.”

This is the tenth year in which Chevron has awarded grants to teachers in locations where the oil company has a physical presence. Eligible teachers were from Kern High, Taft Union High, Wasco Union High, Maricopa Unified, Coalinga (Fresno County) and San Ardo (Monterey County) school districts and K-8 grade public schools that feed those districts. Grants must be used “to purchase materials, supplies and necessary equipment in order to implement creative and innovative projects to engage students within the classroom.”

Chevron Policy, Government & Public Affairs Representative Adam Alvidrez, who hosted the ceremony, said that math, science, reading, environment, health and safety training programs that prepare students for the work place are given priority when under consideration for a grant. “Through the Energy for Learning Classroom Grants, Chevron has donated more than $220,000 to nearly 300 Kern County/San Joaquin Valley classrooms since the inception of the grant program in 1999,” Alvidrez said. He commended all the teachers for their devotion and quality of ideas presented.

2009 Chevron Energy for Learning Classroom Grant recipients:
Anthony Acevedo, AIM-Vista West High - $1,000
Jessica Acevedo, KCSOS Special Education-Richardson Center - $1,000
Carole Lynn Anderson, Sequoia Elementary - $1,000
Sandra Bafia, Elk Hills School - $1,000
Barbara Bailey, Stiern Middle -$1,000
Shelly Barton and Terri Morrison, Orangewood Elementary - $1,000
LeeAnn Bergen, Lost Hills Elementary - $250
Robert Bewley, Lost Hills Elementary - $250
Paula Burroughs, San Lauren Elementary - $750
Nicole Cameron, KCSOS Special Education-Independence Elementary - $750
Jennifer Carr, AIM-Vista West High - $1,000
John Caulfield, Buttonwillow Elementary - $1,000
Bonita Chavez, Orangewood Elementary - $500
Jennifer Clement, Sandrini School - $750
Aileen Colitti, Veterans Elementary - $750
Thomas Cormack, Kern Valley High - $1,000
Kevin Crosby, KCSOS Special Education-Sunset School - $1,000
Joleen de Clercq, San Ardo School - $1,000
Elaine Dorlis, Thompson Jr. High - $750
Jackie Eiffert, Sing Lum School - $1,000
Alejandro Esquivel, Lost Hills Elementary - $1,000
Laura Fiddler, Rosedale Middle - $1,000
Maria Flores, Bear Mountain Elementary - $500
Shirley Foster, Sing Lum School -$1,000
Rebekah Fulce, Vista West Continuation High -$1,000
Jill Garber, Sing Lum School - $750
Oscar Garcia, Lost Hills Elementary - $1,000
Don Hall, Elk Hills School - $750
Tapp Hancock, Owens Primary - $1,000
Jennifer Hatzman, McKinley School - $1,000
Sylvia Herder, Sing Lum School - $750
Monica Hicks, Lost Hills Elementary - $500
Diane Hislop, Frank West School - $1,000
Roxanne Honaker, Rosedale Middle - $1,000
Kristin Hudlow, Centennial High - $1,000
Dianna Ingle, Elk Hills School - $750
Melissa Jones, Owens Primary - $1,000
Kelsey Julander, Plantation School - $750
Jan Karnowski, Endeavour Elementary -$500
Rebecca Langston-George, Sunset School - $500
Linda Mahan, Granite Pointe Elementary - $1,000
Holly Mell, Freedom Middle -$1,000
Juli Moore, San Lauren Elementary - $1,000
Beth-Anne Mulder, all Kern County high schools - $750
Karen Nguyen, McKinley School - $500
Denise Padilla, Sing Lum School - $1,000
Pamela Powell, McAuliffe School - $750
Heather Randolph, Munsey School - $1,000
Stephanie Ulibarri, San Ardo School - $1,000
Tiffany Venters, Lost Hills Elementary - $750
Joyce Victor, Owens Primary - $1,000
Dolores Wade, Lost Hills Elementary - $500
Brook Webb, Sing Lum School - $1,000
Anne White, Buena Vista School - $1,000
Katrina Wilson, Berkshire Elementary - $1,000
Wendy Elmore, Rosedale Middle - $750
Breanne Martin, Almondale Elementary - $1,000


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