October can be one of the toughest stretches of the school year for educators. The back-to-school excitement has faded, the demands of the year are in full swing, and burnout can start to take hold.
On Sept. 23, 70 Chevron employees set out to give Houston teachers a boost for that stretch. Working alongside Houston Loves Teachers, they packed care kits for 3,400 educators and school staff at 33 Houston-area campuses.
Volunteers worked an assembly line, filling each clear Houston Loves Teachers bag with [the everyday care and wellness items teachers told us they need]: snacks, hydration packets, hand cream and a sticker sheet with messages such as “Teachers Make a Difference.” The kits reach campuses this October, each carrying a message from Houston to its teachers: We see you, and we’re grateful.
Voices from the packing line
For Stephanie Beveridge, director of upstream optimization at Chevron and a member of Good Reason Houston‘s board, the work hits close to home. “My mom was a public school teacher. My daughter is in public school here in Houston. My father was a professor of education,” Beveridge told volunteers. “So education has always been meaningful to me.”
Laura Dandridge, who leads corporate affairs and community partnerships at Chevron, connected teachers to the health of the whole city. “Chevron is proud to support Good Reason Houston and Houston Loves Teachers because we know strong teachers are at the heart of every successful campus and every strong student, and we need that for a healthy community,” she said.
Good Reason Houston CEO Courtney Isaak-Pichon thanked volunteers for investing in the people students depend on most. “We cannot realize a future where all Houston children are thriving unless each of them has access to an excellent teacher,” Isaak-Pichon said.
From celebrating teachers to growing teacher leaders
The packing event was part of Chevron’s 2026 Humankind kickoff and the latest chapter in a partnership as old as Houston Loves Teachers itself.
Houston Loves Teachers launched in 2023 with an ambitious goal: make Greater Houston the best place in the country to teach by recruiting, retaining, developing and celebrating the educators students depend on. Chevron joined as a founding partner. Today, Houston Loves Teachers reaches more than 30,000 educators, engages teachers at more than 60 campuses each year and extends its impact to an estimated 40,000 students across the region.
That work rests on a core belief: teachers are essential leaders of change in Houston’s schools. Last school year, Chevron helped Houston Loves Teachers launch its Teacher Leader Cohort to give educators a path to lead on their campuses and in their communities. Members of the inaugural cohort reported meaningful growth in confidence and leadership. They then put that growth to work through capstone projects on teacher belonging, educator sustainability, parent engagement and student career pathways.
This school year, the program grew to 35 teacher leaders from 13 Houston-area school systems. This fall’s care kits extend that investment to the colleagues around them, reaching every educator and staff member at the 33 campuses the cohort represents.
Showing up for teachers today and tomorrow
We’re grateful to Chevron for showing up for Houston’s educators, from helping launch Houston Loves Teachers to sending 70 employees to the packing line. This October, thousands of Houston teachers will open a small reminder that their city is behind them.
Get involved
Want to show up for Houston’s teachers? Contact Valeria Betancourt, director of corporate partnerships and engagement, at valeria@goodreasonhouston.org, or learn more at Houston Loves Teachers.
You can see more photos from the event here.
