San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) provides $250,000 in shareholder funds as matching dollars to help teachers supplement classroom learning with science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) projects, as well as education to racial equity and inclusion.

“We constantly hear from students that they want to see more diverse perspectives and examples of positive contributions – from their cultures and others – in their classrooms and curriculum. Students want to be seen and understood as they seek to see and understand others,” said San Diego County Schools Superintendent Dr. Paul Gothold. “We are grateful that SDG&E is supporting local educators as they seek to implement equitable practices and strategies in their classrooms.”

As part of the initiative for K-12 schools in the San Diego and southern Orange County area served by SDG&E, local K-12 teachers requesting STEM and/or racial equity and inclusion learning via DonorsChoose can receive up to $2 for every dollar they raise. for their projects.

“As a company deeply invested in the future of our region, we have long recognized the vital role teachers play in developing the next generation of citizens, leaders and knowledge workers,” said the director. of SDG&E Community Relations, Kazeem Omidiji. “And we want to do our part to support educators in their efforts to create meaningful and impactful learning experiences for their students.”

How it works

Eligible teachers can visit the DonorsChoose site to apply for matching funds for STEM projects and the DonorsChoose Racial Equity Website for racial equity projects. The matching fund program will run from today until funds are exhausted.

STEM and distance learning projects of $1,000 or less at public schools in SDG&E’s service territory in San Diego and southern Orange counties are eligible to receive matching funds from SDG&E on the platform DonorsChoose. Last year, 65% of the 266 schools in 31 school districts receiving SDG&E funding were in disadvantaged communities.

To support equity in education, SDG&E will provide a double match (2-1) for eligible teacher projects in schools in disadvantaged communities, as determined by CalEnviro Screen.

About the partnership

This is the fifth year that SDG&E is in partnership with DonorsChoose, a nonprofit crowdfunding platform that allows public school educators to post their projects online and raise donations to fund them.

SDG&E launched its partnership with DonorsChoose in 2018 so teachers don’t have to use their own money to buy supplies. The partnership over the first four years has provided a total of $1,164,159 in matching funds to teachers for STEM projects. To date, the STEM collaboration between SDG&E and DonorsChoose has supported more than 1,750 teachers and 250,000 students in more than 900 schools in a few dozen school districts. This is the second year that SDG&E has provided matching funds for anti-racism education.

SDG&E continues to expand the program to support teachers with new needs caused by the pandemic, such as supplies that can no longer be shared among students and equipment needed to enhance remote learning.