I teach at a school in a high poverty district where 100% of the student body receives both free breakfast and lunch. The socioeconomic conditions are so humble that families are often forced make hard choices about food and bills. For many families, these difficult decisions also apply to providing basic school supplies for their children to bring to class.
Sadly, elective classes such as Art fall to the bottom of the priority list.
This creates a deficit in the Art budget, which is desperately needed to assist students by providing the most basic of supplies such as pencils, paper, scissors, and glue. Assistance from generous donors makes it possible to furnish such supplies for many apt and dedicated students who need a little boost to overcome circumstances that they cannot control. Art is a wonderful outlet for students to express themselves.
My Project
Doing any job without the proper tools is a challenge. Schools such as ours have become experts at “making lemonade out of lemons.” That saying could have easily been coined in a middle school art class. Teachers and students alike expend a great deal of energy simply trying to make the best out of what we have, but you can’t even make lemonade without the lemons. That accurately sums up our present situation. A lack of basic supplies is devastating in any classroom, but it is especially painful in art because teaching art relies heavily on learning by doing.
Without the proper supplies, students are unable to fully experience and explore concepts such as the Elements of Art and the Principles of Design.
There is a clear disconnect between the expectations of our curriculum and the provisions available to achieve those expectations. There is no actual budget in our school to provide art materials. In order to demonstrate understanding and proficiency in art, students must be able to hone their skills through repetition and practice. That translates to a lot of pencils, paper, paint, scissors, glue, rulers, clay, and more. Having these basic needs met is absolutely essential for success. Help from generous donors gives our deserving students the opportunity to learn, explore, create, and grow. Any amount of help is a blessing.
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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. Leftwich and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.