This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
There are 200+ students in the program. I wish I could have a room full of computers for them to use, because in a school of over 3800, finding a working and available computer is near impossible. Our program philosophy is "Go Out and Be Successful", but how can they when they don't have the tools?
My students are members of The Gateway Program.
An organization that is geared towards academically driven minority students who need resources to further their educational opportunities. The Gateway Institute for Pre-College Education provides these students with scholarships and internships specifically for them so that they may work towards pursuing a higher education at a top-tier college or university. As the program adviser, the best students are selected from their freshman class, begin the program in their sophomore year and continue through their senior year and beyond.
These are high achieving minority students who wouldn't typically have access to scholarship and internship opportunities in their high school years. We focus on maintaining high grades, internships, community service, and extra-curricular activities to build well-rounded, college ready young men and women.
Our school is over-crowded, over-budget, and over-extended. The students as a whole are in need.
My Project
We have our own in house mentoring program Tuesdays through Thursdays for all the major subjects. Our top students give up their free time to mentor their struggling peers. A team of seniors runs our SAT prep class on Fridays.
By having access to their own computer, these students will be able to apply for internships and scholarships, research colleges and career choices, participate in online SAT/ACT prep courses, register for programs and fill out online applications.
Many students do not have access to computers or printers at home, and due to our large school size, many of them can't even get on to a computer at school.
By having a computer and printer in the program common area, these students would have so many opportunities at their fingertips: college apps, internships, research. Instead of being told, "The library's full, try tomorrow" or "That computer is broken" or "There's a class in here now, sorry no students allowed this period".
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
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. Eligon-Jones and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
