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This teacher needs your help!

Mrs. Taylor from Chicago, IL is requesting books through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

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Building Readers' Self-Esteem With a Book Vending Machine

Help me give my students a book vending machine that celebrates reading and builds at-home libraries!

FULLY FUNDED! Mrs. Taylor's classroom raised $6,023

This project is fully funded

My Students

Our students are Scholars. They are provided a safe space to take risks, be vulnerable, and develop a sense of childhood curiosity and wonder.

They are thirsty for knowledge, eager to please, and desperately want to be better at "school." We have worked so very hard to cultivate a strong culture of learning that I can honestly say that their drive for success is inspirational.

They have endless energy and enormous hearts!

Our Scholars are innocent, kindred spirits who deserve so much more than what our society has given them. For many of our students, their future relies solely on their experiences in our school. Regardless of the unthinkable barriers that our scholars experience outside of our four walls, they know that our belief in them will never waver.

My Project

Research shows that students who read just 20 minutes a day will learn 1,800,000 words a year and score, on average, in the 90th percentile on standardized tests. Students who read only 1 minute a day will learn a mere 8,000 new words a year and typically score in the 10th percentile on standardized tests.

Now visualize our young scholars who have little-to-no access to books, print, or text in their home; what does the research say about their future?

Our students live in a book desert. This means that in our community, printed books and other reading material are extremely hard to obtain, particularly without access to an automobile or other form of transportation. When a family has extremely limited resources to meet a wide variety of needs, luxury items and experiences are simply unattainable. If you are struggling to make ends meet to care for your family, reading becomes just that - a luxury.

Having this Book Vending Machine will completely change this narrative for our community. It will create a culture of celebrating books and reading by rewarding scholars with a token that can be exchanged for a brand new book. This will build excitement for books and will shift the community's view of the act of reading. Additionally, it will enable us to build our students' at-home libraries by awarding books that can be kept for personal use.

This machine will have a lasting, long term impact on the Wentworth Community and will help us change the trajectory for our students' future!

Project tagged as

Chicago, IL
Grades PreK-2
Parent Involvement
Literacy
Books
Nearly all students from low‑income households

Mrs. Taylor Wentworth Elementary School Grades PreK-2

Celebrate Black teachers and kids! This project supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of students are Black.

Equity Focus

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

Chicago, IL View local requests

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

300 students impacted 38donors

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes

Materials Cost Quantity Total

Bookworm Vending Machine with customized trays, wrapping, and extra tokens • Global Vending Group, Inc. $4,595.00 1 $4,595.00

Materials cost			$4,595.00
Vendor shipping charges			$425.00
Sales tax			$0.00
3rd party payment processing fee			$68.92
Fulfillment labor & materials			$30.00
Total project cost			$5,118.92
Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms			$903.34
Total project goal			$6,022.26
How we calculate what's needed
Total project goal			$6,022.26
37 Donors			-$4,117.48
Donations toward project cost			-$3,623.61
Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms			-$493.87
match offer			-$1,759.24
Match offer toward project cost			-$1,495.35
Match offer to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms			-$263.89
Excluded support for DonorsChoose			-$145.59
Still needed View calculation Hide calculation			$0.00

Our team works hard to negotiate the best pricing and selections available.

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Project Activity

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. Taylor and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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Help teachers & students in your hometown this season! Use code HOME at checkout and your donation will be matched up to $100.

This teacher needs your help!

Building Readers' Self-Esteem With a Book Vending Machine

This project is fully funded

My Students

My Project

Project tagged as

Celebrate Black teachers and kids! This project supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of students are Black.

Equity Focus

Boost your odds

Top rated for efficiency and transparency.

TEACHERS, FEELING INSPIRED?

Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes

How we calculate what's needed

Give the most requested basic supplies

Give back to your community

Project Activity

Project Activity

DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

Help teachers & students in your hometown this season!
Use code HOME at checkout and your donation will be matched up to $100.