Help Students Stay Hydrated so Their Only Thirst Is for Knowledge
The cost of twenty-five cases of twenty-four bottles of spring water is $283, including shipping and <a target="new" href="http://www.donorschoose.org/html/fulfillment.htm" onclick="g_openWindow('http://www.donorschoose.org/html/fulfillment.htm', 300, 800, 'fulfillwindow');return false;">fulfillment</a>.
I teach seventh-grade literacy in a severely under-resourced middle school in Brooklyn, New York. More than 70 percent of our students qualify for free lunch.
The unfortunate reality of teaching in an under-resourced neighborhood is that many of my students come to school without the adequate nutrition and hydration necessary for prolonged and rigorous learning. Many students come to school without breakfast, or instead rely on soda to fuel them until lunch. Obviously, students are not getting the nourishment necessary for success, but even worse, they are also coming to school severely dehydrated.
Their dehydration results in headaches, the inability to concentrate in class, and a general ill feeling, which often removes them from my class. Many students are not aware that their "sick" feelings result from a lack of water and therefore ask to be excused to the nurse, rather than to the water fountain.
Throughout the years I have tried to educate my students on the value of water. I advocate water as "brain food" and allow them to leave the class to get a drink of water from the fountain. However, this poses two problems: (1) My students leave class, therefore missing out on valuable learning, and (2) the water fountains are often clogged with trash or the water is undrinkable.
Therefore I am requesting bottled water for my students to have available to them throughout the year. With your help I will be able to explicitly teach my students about the necessity of proper hydration as well as provide them with one more tool essential to their success. With so many obstacles facing urban education, something as simple as water should not stand in my students' way. Please help me lead them on the road to proper nutrition and self-care. Please help me foster a classroom of achievement. Please help me, help them.
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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. Zangrilli and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.