Foresight in Action

United Airlines has pledged $1.25-million to the funding of aviation and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education in schools across the airline’s seven hub locales: Chicago, Denver, Washington, D.C., New York, Houston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. The airline will also help fund aviation and STEM curricula in Phoenix and across Hawaii.

The monies will be awarded to DonorsChoose.Org, a U.S. non-profit organization that permits individuals and companies to donate directly to public school classroom projects. The organization has been given Charity Navigator's highest rating every year since 2005. Moreover, in January 2018, DonorsChoose.Org announced its donors had funded no fewer than one-million classroom projects.

By dint of the DonorsChoose.org website, teachers may present requests for classroom materials and resources directly to individual donors who, in turn, may give one-dollar or more to projects they deem worthwhile. Projects seeking funding are searchable by school name, teacher name, location, school subject, material, and keywords. Using donor-provided-funds, DonorsChoose.org purchases materials and ships such directly to the teachers and schools by which they were requested. All donors receive photographs of their chosen projects taking shape and letters from grateful teachers. Donors who contribute $50 or more to a project receive, in addition to the aforementioned, hand-written thank-you notes from students.

United Airlines senior vice-president and chief communications officer Josh Earnest stated: "Whether it's using model planes to teach middle-schoolers the dynamics of flight or taking a field trip to see how a simulator works, we're proud to help teachers get the resources to inspire the next generation of aviators. We're proud to team up with DonorsChoose.org to support teachers who are doing incredible work and changing the lives of students around the country."

United’s contribution will fund the entirety of the aviation classroom projects currently posted on DonorsChoose.org. Such funds as remain will be plied to an upcoming matching campaign by which additional aviation and STEM-focused projects will be underwritten. Teachers working in the seven selected cities, Phoenix, and Hawaii, are invited to submit projects in need of funding by visiting: www.donorschoose.org/teachers .

DonorsChoose.org CEO Alix Guerrier set forth: "United Airlines is helping classrooms launch into the new school year, with resources that will help aviation and STEM students thrive. Through this campaign, United Airlines is empowering youth who are tomorrow's scientists, aviators, and engineers. This partnership will foster the beginnings of future careers."

FMI: www.donorschoose.org