I want to inspire a love of reading by making representative literature available so that students can see themselves in the pages of the books they read.
My goal is to build a classroom library with books about multicultural characters written by multicultural authors in order to help students explore their own identities as well as begin to appreciate the identities of others.
My students come from all over the world. They speak Ukrainian, Pashto, Arabic, Kinyarwanda, Haitian Creole, and Spanish. They live in an urban and underserved community where Black English is the primary discourse. I want my students to know that no matter what language or dialect they speak, their voices matter. When they see that authors who look and sound like them have published their stories, they will understand that they can do that, too.
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
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 Ms. Simonson and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
{"pmaHash":"","showProjectRecommendations":true,"leadGenEnabled":true,"hideTeacherDetails":false,"schoolState":"CT","teacherPossessivePronoun":"her","PMsManager":null,"schoolGradeType":{"id":2,"name":"Elementary School"},"TeacherPMForms":{},"completingDonationAmount":0,"teacherHasClassroomPhoto":true,"proposalURL":"https://www.donorschoose.org/project/exploring-our-multicultural-identities/7950312/","mayHaveReplacements":false,"numStudents":110,"isEquityFocusV1":true,"teacherScreenName":"Ms. Simonson","isEquityFocus":true,"proposalHash":"1354506419","isApplePayMobileOnly":true,"progressBarPercentage":100.00,"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":false,"photosPublished":false,"queryString":"","DonorPMForm":null,"shouldTrackEquityFocusV2":true,"schoolCity":"New Haven","teachersOnPage":[8102119],"isTeacherViewingTheirOwnProject":false,"minimizedLeadGenEnabled":true,"proposalId":7950312,"proposalMessageFormModel":null,"numActiveProjects":1,"verifyShowPhotos":"","eligibleToBeCopied":false,"schoolId":98603,"schoolName":"Barack Obama Magnet University School","authorIds":{"8102119":{"owner":"Ms. Simonson","donationSalutations":{}}},"displayedPercentFunded":1.0,"proposalsOnPage":[7950312],"pmaId":"","teacherProfilePhotoURL":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp8102119_orig.jpg?crop=224,224,x0,y1&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1756576051787","teacherHasProfilePhoto":true,"currentWorkflowStatusCode":21,"teacherChallengeId":21820253,"isApplePayEnabled":true,"fundedByTarget":false,"activeProject":{"completingDonationAmount":601,"proposalURL":"project/stories-as-mirrors-for-multilingual-read/9665260/","proposalTitle":"Stories as Mirrors for Multilingual Readers: Building a Bilingual Library","proposalId":9665260},"donorIdsForImpactPhotoCheck":[],"teacherId":8102119,"schoolCounty":"New Haven","fullyFunded":true,"isStudentLed":false,"isExpired":true,"schoolStateObj":{"code":"CT","name":"Connecticut"}}
