Touchdowns scored by the Ducks at Autzen Stadium this football season turned into a $40,000 donation for the Eugene Education Foundation (EEF) through OnPoint Community Credit Union’s “Touchdown for Teachers” campaign.
Since 2022, OnPoint has committed $1,000 per University of Oregon touchdown at Autzen Stadium, up to $40,000 annually. This year’s contribution brings the three-year partnership total to $120,000, making it one of the most significant education investments supporting Eugene School District 4J teachers and students.
OnPoint presented the donation on the field at Autzen Stadium during the Nov. 22 University of Oregon football game. Brad Unger, OnPoint’s Coburg Road branch manager and EEF board member, and Laura Brown, executive director of EEF, accepted the check.
“Teachers know what works in their classrooms. When we fund their vision, we see remarkable growth happen for our 4J students,” says Brown. “With OnPoint’s generous partnership, we’re able to do that across dozens of projects and classrooms every year.”
At ECCO High School, art supplies from an EEF-funded grant helped one sophomore discover she was an artist, which was something she didn’t believe about herself just months before. “I didn’t know I could do this,” she said after completing her first painting. “I didn’t think I was an artist until now.” Her work was soon featured publicly at the New Zone Art Gallery in downtown Eugene, where she and several classmates sold their artwork, earning recognition from the broader arts community.
Similarly, at Churchill High School, a teacher brought published author and ultramarathoner Emily Halnon to campus through an EEF grant. Four male juniors stayed for her writing workshop and volunteered to share their work aloud, behavior their teacher had never seen before in regular class. “Students who are unengaged came alive,” the teacher observed. “They were inspired and engaged.”
“These moments remind us exactly why ‘Touchdown for Teachers’ matters,” said Unger. “When we invest in students and schools, we’re investing in our community’s future. OnPoint believes in teachers. We believe in their ideas. And that belief transforms how students experience school.”