Expanding Creativity & Innovation to Address Difficult School Problems
I need fees for summer professional institute to expand creative, purposeful and dynamic interventions for students in my elementary school that has high needs and inadequate resources.
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
Frankly, my students are awesome. They are resilient, creative, loving and passionate. My students live in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago's West Side. The area receives a lot of news coverage about crime, gangs, drugs and poverty. Yes, these factors are ever present in my students' lives more so than in other areas of our city/state/nation. More than 97% of the students that attend our school fall in the "low-income" range. But my students are much more than that. The families deeply care about their children and the neighborhood. Families participate in family night, parents attend report card pick up, fathers take their daughters to the Father/Daughter dance and most importantly, our students come to school.
Our attendance rate is over 96%.
Why is that important? Despite the hurdles my students face such as witnessing violence, being exposed to trauma and living in situations in which necessities like food and regular shelter are not always a given, they come to school. They are eager to learn. They are motivated to succeed. They show pride in who they are.
My Project
My school is filled with talented, hard working administrators, educators and students who face daily obstacles in an underfunded, under resourced and high needs community. There is extensive research that indicates that adverse childhood experiences (ACE) like poverty, violence and trauma have a profoundly negative impact on a child's education and health. My school lacks access to funding and resources that schools in middle-income and wealthy communities have to supplement what the school district provides to its schools.
Given the complexity of my school's needs coupled with the lack of resources and funding available to adequately address those needs, I am seeking materials and funding that will connect me with industry leaders in design, in order to expand my leadership and creativity in order to design solution focus interventions and programs at my school.
I plan to use the training to identify some key problems and barriers to my student's education and identify solutions that engage students, their families and educators. This could include creating both school and after-school programming for students, develop relationships of educators, parents and the local community and identify grants and fundraising opportunities to support these efforts.
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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 Mr. Conners and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
