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
I am fortunate to work in the beautiful community of Jackson Heights, Queens. We have a diverse population of students with a variety of needs. We teach a large immigrant population with families from Central and South America as well as Asia. Almost 20% of our school is made up of English Language Learners. We are a barrier-free school, which means that we provide access to children with disabilities, including students with severe cognitive, medical, and emotional needs.
We are a Title I school in need of financial assistance due to our high number of children from low-income families.
Despite all of the challenges our students face, they are passionate, hardworking, smart, and curious. I have the pleasure of working in a variety of roles at our school (from yoga and mindfulness instructor to a reading rescue teacher and mentor to new educators) and get to spend time with future world leaders, yogis, writers, artists, engineers, and the list goes on!
This year, I am working with the blended, remote 2nd-grade students through ZOOM and Google Classroom, on the days that they are learning from home.
My Project
“In diversity there is beauty and there is strength.” – Maya Angelou
Living in a pandemic and a time of uncertainty, it is more important than ever for students to see themselves represented in the stories we read together.
Whether it is the country they come from, a student's family make-up, their race, or religion, every student deserves to be celebrated!
With a wider range of classroom books, students will not only see a mirror of themselves but also learn about the cultures and experiences of their classmates. This is a celebration of diversity!
Books like Jabari Tries, Lubna and Pebble, and Drawn together will be used in lesson planning and during reading mini-lessons on Zoom. Others, such as Dreamers, The Ugly Vegetables, and Fry Bread will be featured as mentor texts for writing to highlight craft moves and the author's purpose. Other titles, such as When We Were Alone and Under My, Hijab will be shared as reading aloud with an accountable talk for students to engage in meaningful discussions. Lessons will be crafted around social studies topics as well as English Language Arts.
More than half of 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. Mahoney-Kertes and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
