My students are passionate, talented, funny and persevering. They have to be, in order to survive in one of the worst neighborhoods in the South Bronx. They come from broken homes, foster care, group homes and several are coming from homeless or abused family shelters. Despite these circumstances, my kids are eager to come to school and find a path out of their situation with the power of education. I have never met a stronger group of young men and women in my twenty plus years of teaching.
These students are so disadvantaged that many of them don't have access to the simplest supplies at home.
I want them to be exposed to as much as possible, so they don't fall behind in their future educational endeavors. They could have a very bleak outlook on what life has to offer them, but the amazing thing is they don't. I strive every day to be a positive role model for them and reinforce the idea they can make a difference in their own lives with the power of education.
My Project
I'm proud that my classroom has been paperless for fourteen years now. Over the past few years and through the generosity of donors on this website, I've been able to get enough Chromebooks to have a classroom set for all of my classes. My students love working on them and have been extremely careful in using them; not one has been broken in four years! However, they are starting to show some serious wear.
Unfortunately, at the end of this 2019/20 school year, I will be forced to send three of our Chromebooks off to that big tech heaven in the sky.
This will leave me short three important tools to my class. My students need these Chromebooks in order to apply to college, submit their financial aid applications, work on their student loan information, and practice for SATs...and that's just the start. This isn't a project for some extra technology bells and whistles; this is a dire need for my students.
Budget cuts, political digs, and a lack of adequate facilities and materials teach them at an early age to toughen up and not care. A donation of something as special as these devices would mean so much to them. Not only would they assist them in classroom activities, they would also help them to realize that people really do care about their education.
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. McCormack and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
