My students need healthy snacks to earn and learn. My students need to earn gel pens to brighten their days and pages to color bright to keep them positive.
It's not always easy to come to school every day, for some, it's harder than we know. Students I work with need more than the simple expectation to be here. The bright smile that greets them, the friends they have made and the incentives they earn for arriving on time, every day, makes the difference.
We are a great school, but we have a number of students who are considered chronically absent, which means they miss more than 15 days of school a year.
It's very hard to learn when the students are not in class. Reasons for poor attendance vary greatly, but most commonly I hear that students have added responsibilities in their homes that make arriving at school more challenging. They may not have the resources or home support to get to our early start school on time.
Additionally, some students have a hard time learning or are identified with a disability which can make school very hard and frustrating work. Other students I work with are staying in our community's family homeless shelter, which provides it's own challenges around getting to school.
I can't always know what will help get students to school every day, but when asked they reply with things like snacks, fun pens and paper, clocks or people. Such simple things that we can make a difference with.
My Project
Students will need to be active learners to earn the incentives that I am requesting. That means that they will have to be at school, on time daily and working hard to earn their chosen incentive. Daily contact can be vital for kids who do not feel connected to school, so by earning a daily reward not only will they have the personal daily check-in connection to the staff of their choice, but also an incentive they have chosen to earn.
The students will learn that once they start attending regularly they gain in many ways by re-connecting with people, adults and other students, and new relationships will begin to form. They will notice their academics improve because they have been in class for instruction and with better instruction comes improved grades.
This project will make a difference on our students' education because they will be able to earn things that they have chosen when they arrive to school, on time each day and connect with a staff person they respect.
Improved attendance will increase their access to education by being at school and in the classroom more frequently. Data shows that not only academics improve with better attendance and school connectedness, but also social relations and engagement improves.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. S. and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.