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
My middle school students come from diverse cultural, linguistic and socio-economic backgrounds in a very urban environment. Many speak Spanish as their primary language. Some are new immigrants from as far as El Salvador, Mexico, Russia, China, Uzbekistan, Thailand and Malaysia. They are learning English. Some of their journeys have been long and difficult. Some have learning disabilities. Some live with family members who work two jobs. Some take care of younger siblings after school. Some don't get home until very late. My students take on challenges with great resilience and humility and like all middle schoolers, they are also going through adolescence and their bodies are growing at the fastest rate in their lifetime save for infancy.
Through all of these physical and hormonal changes as they enter young adulthood, my students are negotiating their peer network in middle school.
While lunch is a time many students look forward to, for some this time can be stressful because of its unstructured nature. Many students choose coming to the library instead of the yard. And even in the library, some of my students are regularly alone.
My Project
Where is your favorite place to read? For me, it's the corner of the sofa in my living room or the reclining triangle cushion I lugged back from Thailand. For my middle school students, many of them, are comforted by sensory furniture. They like the small ottoman pieces they can roll their bellies on and read like Superman. They like to curl up in bucket chairs and put their knees to their chests while they read.
We all know that environment is key in creating a mood, and we are in need of some new furniture to create this cozy atmosphere for our students.
The current sofas are falling apart. Holes have worn through the fabric and stuffing is leaking out. Cushions have lost their springs. We are in need of some stronger, sturdier and more sensory furniture to meet the needs of our students. We need to create the ideal space for them to read. This corner of the library houses the most popular collection, our graphic novels. It is a highly used space that draws the most students. They come between the hours of 7:30 and 8:30am wanting to lounge and read before school starts. They come individually to take breaks when they need a moment to cool down. They come at lunch craving somewhere warm and safe and the library is this place for about 100 students who come on their own time.
I want to show the students that they are seen by the adults at this school and this community. They are respected and loved, and have high quality, cozy andnew furniture in the library is a way to show them that we care about them and we want them to have a cozy corner while they escape into the world of books.
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. Anusasananan and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
