There are not too many ways for individuals to make a tangible difference inside public school classrooms unless you are a teacher. Not everyone is called to teach, but for some people coming alongside a teacher in a way that can make a real difference has been a difficult task. Until now, that is. Please read on to learn about one such organization impacting American classrooms that brings teachers and individual donors together by way of the internet. DonorsChoose [www.donorschoose.com] is an online organization tasked with bringing the needs of public school teachers to the general public. In many districts, teachers must pay out of pocket in order to provide certain "extras" for their students. These extras usually include paper, pencils, books, clipboards, teaching materials, and the like. All things that most well funded districts take for granted, but poor districts are unable to provide. Indeed, with many teachers spending several hundreds of dollars per year on their students, these extras add up and can be difficult to provide on a $33,000 salary. The DonorsChoose site allows for teachers to register, submit project proposals for materials or for experiences that their students need to learn, and allow "Citizen Philanthropists" the opportunity to help schools directly by funding a specific project. To date, over four million dollars worth of projects have been donated by Americans in all fifty states to schools impacting over 200,000 students in New York City, North and South Carolina, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Projects filled by donors include: $396 donated by an individual to a fifth grade classroom in Brooklyn, NY. The teacher requested the funds to purchase four sets of Scholastic's 100-volume library sets.$254 requested by a Chicago kindergarten teacher to purchase a hermit crab kit and related educational materials to teach children about caring for animals [many children are totally unfamiliar with pets].$217 requested by a San Francisco kindergarten/first grade teacher to pay the admission fee for eighteen students and eight adults to the San Francisco Zoo to see the zoo's penguin exhibit.$604 donated by individuals for a new Canon copier to supplement the one copier used by 300 teachers and paraprofessionals daily in an overcrowded 1600 student South Bronx school.Projects are posted regularly by registered members and filled by interested parties through the site, which is a not-for-profit corporation started in 2000 by a Bronx public high school teacher, Charles Best, who was searching for a way that individuals could meet the needs of his under funded school. The idea of DonorsChoose was soon hatched and it quickly spread to schools around New York City before going national in 2004. You may not have the monies available to fund an entire project, but you can designate a monetary donation that can be used to fund DonorChoose operations or toward an open project. |
