California Credit Union Thursday invited all LA and Orange County teachers with an innovative class project idea to apply for a grant through the financial company’s twice-yearly teacher grant program.

Ten grants of $500 each will be awarded in May for the spring program, the credit union said.

“We are committed to serving the education community, and can’t think of a better way to honor that commitment than helping teachers light up their classrooms with an innovative learning opportunity for their students,” said California Credit Union President/CEO Steve O’Connell.

“We hope this program will make it a little easier for educators to make a difference in the lives of our students, and encourage any teacher who has an exciting project idea to take just a few minutes to apply for one of our grants.”

The spring grant program is available to full-time teachers in LA and Orange counties, or to credit union members teaching in California.

The credit union said teachers’ classroom projects “should have clearly defined learning objectives tied to students’ academic needs, display creativity and benefit a significant number of students.”

Interested teachers can find more information and apply online at ccu.com/teachergrant. The application deadline is April 15, 2022.

Since the creation of the program in 2012, California Credit Union said, it has awarded $145,000 in teacher grants across Southern California.

The 2021 fall grant program funded a wide range of projects, including creating community gardens; art expression programs focused on social change, anti-racism, diversity & inclusion; a mobile library; a cooking channel for special-needs students; and coding and robotics programs, among others, the company said.