I am a fourth grade teacher at a Title 1 school that provide services to a diverse community. My students come to school every day with little or no supplies. I try everyday to provide them with paper and pencils to use in their daily assignments. But no matter what you do, it is never enough.
Can I sharpen my pencil? Teacher, my point is broken? I hear these words about 50 times a day and I can't do anything about it. We had a pencil sharpener, but it stopped working after the first week of school. I requested another one, but we don't have the funds for another electrical one. So I go to other classrooms early every morning to sharpen my students' pencils. But during the day, they break and I can't leave my class or send students to other classes. So what do you do? I have a couple of small personal sharpeners, but you need to stand over the trash can. It is distracting when students get up during instruction to go over and stand at the trash can. Or it gets messy when pencil shaving are all over the classroom.
What I need is three high volume, heavy duty pencil sharpeners that my students and I can use in our classroom. It would cut down on my students getting up during instruction to sharpen pencils when they should be engaged in instruction. Also it would help me to use my early morning planning for other things like setting up centers, pulling supplies for experiments, or reviewing for the day's lesson, instead of running all over the school sharpening pencils.
This seems like an unnecessary request, but when you don't have a sharpened pencil, then things don't feel right. Your assignments like messy and you feel like you are not doing your best. My students need all the opportunity to be at their best. You can put smiles on my students' faces and help to improve their education by supporting this project. A dull point lessens productivity, but a sharp point increase creativity.
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 Mrs. Richardson and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
