Do you remember the pressures of wearing the "right" clothing to school? My district is attempting to minimize those pressures by utilizing school uniforms (navy blue polo shirt and navy blue pants.)
My students are, almost, all refugees from countries like Burma (Myanmar), Somalia, Nepal, Thailand, and African countries.
They often arrive in the US with little more than the clothes on their backs. Grateful to have any clothing items, and unaware of American culture, they often come to school wearing clothing that doesn't follow American cultural norms. Boys will come in wearing pink and purple, simply happy to have items that fit appropriately.
My Project
Our school district has implemented a simple uniform policy of navy blue shirts (screen printed with our school logo) and navy blue pants. While this policy helps minimize the stigma of going against cultural norms, it also presents a financial burden that many of our families are unable to shoulder. My team provides students with shoes, pants, and uniform shirts when we can but there are never enough to go around and all items that we provide have been donated or purchased with our own funds. Your donation will allow us to provide uniforms for students at no charge. This donation will allow us to use our personal funds to buy more shoes, winter coats and other necessities for families that need them. I am requesting 30 navy polo shirts.
More often than not, my students arrive in the US without any formal education.
They are often unaccustomed to the concept of school, don't speak the language, and are intimidated by a system that they don't understand. The simple act of providing a uniform helps these students begin to feel that they belong. We will be giving them a sense of community, helping to break down the barriers that their language and lack of experience put in place.
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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 Mrs. L. and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
