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This teacher needs your help!

Ms. Clemson from Nashville, TN is requesting books through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

See what Ms. Clemson is requesting

Identity, Baseball, and the American Dream

My students need books that inspire and engage them. They need books that help them to define themselves, the world, and their place in it.

FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Clemson's classroom raised $506

This project is fully funded

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

Celebrate Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

My Students

Remember the first time you read a book and loved so much that you carried it around as a talisman? You fell in love with the characters, the story; it spoke to you and became a part of you? Now, do you remember that book being taught in school? I didn't think so. I want different for my students.

My students are racially and culturally diverse and economically poor.

Students at my school speak upwards of 40 different languages at home, and 93% receive free and reduced lunch. We are a Title I public school with limited resources. That being said, I believe that literacy teaches life. So, my students have read books that are culturally diverse. Through this we have gotten to know each others' histories and traditions. But at 14, my students are trying to define who they are and how they fit in the present. Most of my students are navigating this awkward-enough-by-itself stage of adolescence while also juggling two languages (one at home and English at school) and two cultures. One way to help students understand this balancing act, form positive self identities, and find where they fit is to compare and contrast their experiences to those of a character in a book. But this requires the magic of the right book at the right time.

My Project

In Matt de la Pena's novel, Mexican White Boy, protagonist Danny asks himself these very questions: Who am I? Where do I belong? and How do I fit? With a Caucasian mother and a Mexican father, Danny only somewhat fits in with the kids at his all white, private school and only somewhat fits in with his Mexican cousins. But, he doesn't fit fully in either place. Drawing from the author's personal experiences, this book provides a realistic example of how one person living in a blended world finds his place. Last year my students shared a total of 4 copies of Mexican White Boy between themselves. One was mine and 3 were borrowed from friends. Every time my students discussed it--in class and out, in literature circles and on their own--I found myself wishing that the entire class could be involved in the conversation because they were the most real, relevant, AND literature-based discussions I've heard in 8 years of teaching.

Because of a book, students were talking about their own realities.

They encouraged each other to be confident and unapologetic about who they were, and who they wanted to be. They got this from a book that told a story just like theirs. Because books can change lives, tough, inner-city students became readers. It is the magic of that one special book that makes all the difference. By helping me to put this book into students' hands, you put this magic into required school curriculum.

Ms. Clemson Wright Middle School Grades 6-8

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.

Nashville, TN View local requests

More than a third 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

60 students impacted 17donors

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Expand the "Where your donation goes" section below to see exactly what Ms. Clemson is requesting.

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TEACHERS, FEELING INSPIRED?

You can start a project with the same resources being requested here!

Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
Mexican WhiteBoy • AKJ Books $6.56 60 $393.60

Materials cost

$393.60

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$5.90

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$429.50

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$75.79

Total project goal

$505.29

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $505.29

12 Donors

-$399.05

Donations toward project cost

-$365.75

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$33.30

match offer

-$75.00

Match offer toward project cost

-$63.75

Match offer to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$11.25

Excluded support for DonorsChoose

-$31.24

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

 $0.00

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

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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. Clemson and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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