ROCHELLE – Tyson Foods is donating $26,388 to help fund Rochelle school district teacher projects.
The company has partnered with DonorsChoose.org to support teachers with a $1 million investment. This comes as part of Tyson’s commitment to support the communities in which their plants are located.
“We have a responsibility to support our communities in a variety of ways, including equipping our teachers with the resources they need as an effective way to support education,” said Debra Vernon, Tyson senior director, corporate social responsibilities, in a press release. “Through the DonorsChoose.org model teachers can focus on the individual needs of their classrooms and students can experience new or better ways to learn.”
The money will be used to fund projects for 46 school districts in 37 different Tyson communities. Rochelle has received a total of $26,388 to split between the two districts with each project receiving a max of $1,000.

Teachers can post projects of any kind on DonorsChoose.org and Tyson will choose which ones will receive funding.
“Essentially anything teachers think that they need to improve the educational process that is going on in their classroom they can post a grant for,” said Jason Harper, district superintendent.
Once the teachers have come up with their project ideas, they just go to the website and create a post explaining their project, how much funding they need to make it happen, and how it will improve their classroom environment. This will be the first time that teachers in Rochelle have used this website.
To view local teacher projects and track their progress towards their goals, visit www.DonorsChoose.org and search for Rochelle.
Since hearing about the funding, teachers from both RTHS and the local elementary schools have already posted their project ideas.
“We have been awarded a handful of bi-lingual based grants, we have had some math enrichment ones being awarded and we have had some flexible seating ones for our students with special needs. Whatever the teachers’ kind of dream up and propose, and so far, Tyson has been great with approving them,” explained Harper.
Harper said the Rochelle school districts are appreciative of Tyson’s efforts to help give students in both districts full opportunities, and officials from Donorschoose.org are also pleased with the company’s involvement.
“We’re so grateful for the generosity of Tyson Foods,” said Charles Best, Donorschoose.org founder, in a press release. “As teachers across Tyson communities gear up for the school year ahead and use DonorsChoose.org to request resources for their classroom, this support will help bring those classroom dreams to life.”