California Credit Union Foundation encourages Santa Clarita Valley teachers who have an innovative class project idea to apply for a credit union grant through its spring Teacher Grant program. Ten grants of $500 each will be awarded to area teachers in April in the spring program.

The California Credit Union Foundation grant program is available to full-time teachers in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Ventura counties, or credit union members teaching in California, looking to fund special learning opportunities for their students. The project should have clearly defined learning objectives tied to students’ academic needs, display creativity and benefit a significant number of students.

“Providing grants to help our teachers and schools thrive and recognize their commitment to learning is one of the Foundation’s focus areas as a pillar of long-term community empowerment,” said California Credit Union Foundation President Marvel Ford. “We’re excited to offer this grant program to support our hard-working teachers in bringing their dream project to life, and encourage any educator who has a project idea to apply.”

Interested teachers can find more information and apply online at www.ccu.com/teachergrant/. The application deadline is April 1.

Since the creation of the program in 2012, $185,000 in teacher grants have been awarded to benefit students across Southern California. The fall grant program funded a wide range of projects, including creating student wellness corners, starting a cow eyeball dissection lab, expanding school music programs, incorporating multi-media into school newspapers, among others.

A non-profit charitable corporation, California Credit Union Foundation focuses its resources on four key pillars of long-term community empowerment, including investing in its communities and youth, supporting educators and schools, promoting financial literacy and honoring service members.