Help me give my students the experience of reading the novel, We Are Not From Here, in their 9th grade English class. I am also requesting 5 copies in Spanish for students where Spanish is their home language.
This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
My school is a small, college preparatory school in the historically Black neighborhood of North Mpls. At my school, it is common to have students whose parents and grandparents are alumni, and all of our students receive support from the large network of alumni invested in our legacy.
Students are artists, athletes, scholars, and readers.
We win state championships in basketball and football, win history day competitions, and have fabulous arts performances. We have many students taking advanced coursework and many students reading for pleasure on a regular basis.
Our students and community also wrestle with what it means to be Black and Brown in America. We experience disproportionate poverty and tragedy and sometimes it feels like we are all just trying to survive. As a school community, we share the ongoing work of learning, creating, and thriving in the midst of struggle.
My Project
My school's English department is committed to teaching with current and relevant texts. We are moving away from texts about Black and Brown suffering written by white authors. Over the last couple of years, the teachers have been considering replacing Of Mice and Men in 9th grade English. We identified, the award-winning book, We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez, as an excellent choice to teach in 9th grade.
While the district is working to update English texts for each grade, they are not moving fast enough for us and our students.
The department has decided we would like to invest in this title for our students and we are looking for funding assistance to make this happen.
We have requested enough copies that each student could check out a copy they can read in class or take home to continue their progress. We have also requested copies in Spanish for students whose home language is Spanish.
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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. Aram and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
