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This teacher needs your help!

Teacher DiColandrea from Brooklyn, NY is requesting a class trip through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

See what Teacher DiColandrea is requesting
Student-led project

Hotel Room for Brooklyn Speech & Debate Team at Yale

We need two hotel rooms for the adult judges accompanying us to this tournament.

FULLY FUNDED! Teacher DiColandrea's classroom raised $1,239

This project is fully funded

About My Students

I teach at a public charter school in Crown Heights that serves 400 phenomenal Black and/or Latino students, 75% of whom qualify for Free or Reduced Lunch.

Adia is an extraordinary sophomore who has been crushing it this season. Not only is she in line to be our Extemp Captain next year, but she never missed an opportunity to push herself. At States, she competed in the supplementary category of Impromptu when she didn't break to finals and ended up placing THIRD in New York State, after giving a powerful impromptu speech in the final round about what it is like to be Black in America. She was one of our only students to try for the NYC Theodore Roosevelt Public Speaking contest, for which she wrote an emotional piece about gun control, where she won $500 for placing third.

The Yale tournament is the first invitational on the national circuit each year, so competing there is really important for two reasons. First of all, this is the first opportunity for kids to try on their pieces for the season on a national stage and to use that feedback to frame their practices for the fall. Secondly, competing at this tournament will give the kids momentum and confidence as they kick off their 2017-18 season. With any luck, we will have some teammates do well there, which will help lift the morale and commitment of the entire team. Also, we will have a team alum at Yale next year who will house the students, which would also be huge for the kids in terms of seeing themselves represented at a school like Yale.

In Their Own Words

Yale is one of the best Ivy League schools located in Connecticut. Every time I compete at a Speech and Debate tournament at Yale I feel absolutely amazed to be standing on the Yale campus. I'm glad that I am a part of a tournament that's so big and allows me to grow as a speaker.

When I do Extemporaneous Speaking it's not about the trophies I get, it's about the people listening to me and understanding that what I am saying is important and worth listening to. Everyone has a voice but not everyone uses it. So when I give speeches about LGBT rights, abortion, or Black Lives Matter I'm speaking for everyone who has ever been silenced. I'm presenting my cause to the audience. Which is why Yale is such an important tournament for me and my speech debate team. Even though we don't always reach that goal of finals I know my team and self-included are having greater purposes by giving speeches that leave people with something good to remember. We're giving speeches that allow everyone to be heard, and we're showing people that they don't have to be afraid to speak up for what they believe in.

We are really lucky this year that we will be able to have students stay on campus with an alum from our program who will be starting her freshman year at Yale in the fall. But in order to compete, we need to bring some adults too as judges, so if this project gets funded, we will be able to afford the hotel room for them.

Teacher DiColandrea Achievement First Brooklyn High School Grades 9-12

Equity Focus

This project directly supports students at a historically underfunded school. Learn more about our Equity Focus.

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

Brooklyn, NY View local requests

More than half of 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

20 students impacted 1donor

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Where Your Donation Goes

Component Company Total
Lodging Courtyard Marriott $1,007.40

Trip cost

$1,007.40

Vendor shipping charges

FREE

Sales tax

$0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$15.11

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$1,052.51

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$185.74

Total project goal

$1,238.25

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

$1,238.25

1 Donor

-$1,052.51

Donations toward project cost

-$1,052.51

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$0.00

Excluded support for DonorsChoose

-$185.74

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

$0.00

Our team works hard to negotiate the best pricing and selections available.

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Project Activity

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