SchoolsRule Sonoma County Distributes 166K in Second Annual Distribution

SchoolsRule Sonoma County, a fundraising initiative of the Sonoma County Office of Education, celebrated the distribution of more than $166,200 to nearly 50 education foundations and school districts during an event held Wednesday, Sept. 17, at the agency’s Skylane Boulevard office. 

Funds will support educational opportunities countywide for students along four target areas: literacy, agriculture and hospitality, student well-being, and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math). 

“East County, West County, Cloverdale, Petaluma: It goes everywhere,” Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Amie Carter, who launched the initiative in November 2023, said of the funding. “That is just the broad impact that this funding has.”

Funds are distributed to education foundations and districts without such groups on a per-student basis. Because the Sonoma County Office of Education covers overhead costs for the initiative, every dollar raised goes directly to students throughout the county’s 40 school districts. 

Wednesday’s event, which was attended by roughly 80 people, highlighted the investments that SchoolsRule recipients have made to support local students since the initiative’s first distributions last September. 

Carter touched on several of those investments, including: 

• At Cesar Chavez Language Academy, students in the baile folklórico program received new costumes, and students in the music program benefited from new instrument parts, microphones, and other materials 
• Students at the Sonoma Mountain and Carpe Diem alternative high schools in Petaluma took part in a hands-on leadership program about sustainable agriculture and its role in healthy ecosystems.
• SchoolsRule funding helped secure in-ear translators for multilingual students at Horicon Elementary. The tools allow students to participate more fully in classroom discussions.

“When you see the wide variety of projects that were undertaken with these funds, it truly tells a story about how broadly these dollars have impacted (local schools),” Carter said. 

Katie Coursey, a teacher at Windsor Middle School and event speaker, described how SchoolsRule funds helped her launch a Farm-to-Fork Culinary Garden program this school year. The yearlong elective blends gardening, cooking, nutrition and science education. 

“Some of the skills that we focus on are how to grow and nurture a plant from seed to plate, and that really ties into agriculture, hospitality, and STEM,” Coursey said. 

The classroom received support from SchoolsRule by way of a grant provided by the Windsor Education Foundation last school year. Funding helped purchase kitchen equipment and garden supplies — including soil, cutting boards, knives, safety gloves, and an oven — which were needed to offer the elective, Coursey said. 

“They’re learning a lot. I’m learning a lot, and that all comes back to this grant,” Coursey said. “They were the first people to invest in a class that didn’t even exist yet. So, I'm very grateful.”

SchoolsRule Sonoma County is modeled after an initiative pioneered by SchoolsRule-Marin, which has been raising funds on behalf of that county’s students since 2012. The Mendocino County Office of Education launched its own version of the initiative this summer. 

Visit the SchoolsRule Sonoma County Impact page to see a list of this year’s recipients. The site includes a map detailing how SchoolsRule Sonoma County recipients supported local students last school year. To see the businesses, organizations, and individuals who are sponsors of SchoolsRule Sonoma County, visit the SchoolsRule Sonoma County Supporters page.