Baby It's Cold Outside Help Make It A Little Warmer!
My students need warm coats for the upcoming winter in order to remain healthy enough to attend school.
$1,686 goal
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Hooray! 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.
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
My students come from a large underprivileged city and underfunded school system, but that does not stop them from being dedicated, determined and thirsty to learn.
I am in awe of the fact that their surroundings and varied hardships, do not dim their enthusiasm for education.
One hundred percent of my students receive free lunch. My students often struggle to verbalize or write about on paper what they think or feel, yet they are able to express feelings through music whether they are singing, playing or dancing to it. Einstein said, “If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.” I believe Einstein was not just describing himself, but each one of my students.
My Project
Weather is definitely a factor in our lower school attendance when the winter hits. Although students may take their education seriously, the cold weather is a huge deterrent to coming to school.
This past school year, 2016-2017, almost half of our student body attended less than 85% of our calendared school days which pushed our chronically absent percentage up to 47.57%.
The winter months contributed greatly to that number. Due to budget cuts our current students, who are largely from warmer climates and are not prepared for the colder weather when it hits, have to walk 1 1/2 miles to and then again from school! City bus passes are only given to those who live over 2 miles away and even those are limited. These students may try layering up, but layering is no match for a good winter coat!
While I wish I could put a coat on all 1150+ students, I would like to be proactive and focus on a particular population. We have some organizations that have donated coats in the past but they only fit students of a certain size. Our larger students go without. I am requesting twenty-eight winter coats in larger men's and women's sizes in order to provide for the students that are often left out, forgotten about, and who then drift away. Once they return to school, what they have missed seems to be overwhelming and then they become a disengaged student as well. These coats will be given out to those in need to offer them a little warmth both physically and mentally, a little encouragement to better their attendance from last year and to hopefully lower our chronic absenteeism percentage. I appreciate your consideration.
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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. Graham and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
