My students need the basic supplies for a proper art curriculum featuring colored pencils, art gum erasers, charcoal pencils, chalk pastels, modeling clay and markers.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Curtis's classroom raised $553
This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
My Students
Can you imagine a school hallway without pictures and drawings covering every inch of the walls? Well if you stepped into my school these past two years, that is exactly what you would have seen: empty, lifeless walls. It's time to revive our building!
My students are all from a rough and tough neighborhood in New York City and sometimes their focus is not on school but their personal and home lives.
Often, the conditions are not ideal and these small innocent children are exposed to things children should never be exposed to and carry burdens that no child should carry. Unfortunately my students need to grow up quicker then they should.
What I noticed this year as their science teacher is that we have some SERIOUSLY artistic children in the school. Not students with good drawing skills but truly ARTISTIC skills. Unfortunately due to school "reform" and teacher accountability; students are pressured to score high on state tests and therefore time allotted for art and crafts is brushed aside for test prep, test prep and more test prep.
My Project
My school this year faced a major crisis. Due to our high turnover rate, we hire new, young teachers because staffing a school in that neighborhood is difficult. This year the Mayor of NYC wanted cut over 4000 teachers to show that teacher tenure needed to be reformed. If his plans were executed and according to the New York Times, our school would have had to lay off 20 out of our 58 teachers or 34%. Luckily for us and the children of New York, an agreement was made and we can keep all of our staff. After all of this chaos, I asked my principal a serious question about my position. I currently teach science for grades 3-5 and I LOVE it. I'm so passionate about it but I am also passionate about being creative and expressive. We also have not had an art program in my school for over two years. So, I approached her and she agreed - I will be teaching a dual program next year. First half of the week Science, the other half art! Im REALLY excited except we have do not have art supplies!
Donating to our school is extremely important because we are finally able to bring creativity and artistic expression back into action.
I love drawing and sketching and when I make posters the children are fixated on how well I can draw. With this new combo program I will be teaching, the children can finally draw and create for themselves. The children who are so artistic finally have a venue to create and our walls will have color on them again! Please help me bring life to our halls again.
Nearly all students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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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. Curtis and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
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