We all live in a mobile society and my students are no exception! But sadly, that sometimes means they leave with library books. This year alone we have lost over $1200.00 in books checked out to students who have withdrawn. We have no hope of seeing those books or any payment for replacements
I am the Teacher Librarian for a near inner city high school (grades 9-12) located just outside the city limits of a major city in Washington State.
The school campus consists of 3 fully autonomous small schools (ala the Gates Smaller Learning Communities model) of approximately 300-400 students each. Each school had a particular emphasis to better meet the students' future career goals. While this is a terrific opportunity for the students, it does present challenges to areas like the library that are shared services. We have a very diverse student body with very a high poverty level. Approximately 250 of the students are not native English speakers and approximately 200 students with a wide range of special needs (enrolled in the 3 small schools). We also have a free and reduced lunch rate of over 70% as of last school year.
My Project
Sadly, our district funding has been nearly eliminated due to budget cuts. As we all know, there are so many forms of entertainment available to young people today. But we also know that getting young people hooked on reading is priceless; studies have shown strong connections between reading for pleasure and academic success. So how do we get these busy, modern teens into the library, and how to we get them to keep coming back? The books I have requested are all very popular with our students and desperately need to be replaced.
If we cannot replace popular titles in our collection, what hope do we have of getting them reading and keeping them excited about reading?
With your help, we can fill our shelves and continue to draw in a new generation of readers! My students ask every day if we have anything new for them to read, and every day I have to tell them no. Your generous donation will put a smile on their faces and a book in their hands! What could be better?
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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. Glasgow and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
