Help me give my students on the baseball team a trip to the batting cages.
$316 goal
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Celebrating 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.
This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
Our school, located in the South Bronx, is in the poorest Congressional district, where funding for extracurricular activities has been an afterthought for quite some time. Our students compete on the baseball team every year, yearning for a safe, fun, and productive way to spend their free time. As the school is in the heart of the South Bronx, space is nearly nonexistent, and the parks around are not safe places for us to practice.
Our reality has never dampened our players' spirits.
Each one floods to my classroom every day at three, ready for practice. Our options are the basketball gym, which we share with two other schools, or our horseshoe-shaped concrete recess area behind the school building. Although the only times we played on an actual baseball diamond were for our games, the team played with fierce tenacity, never making excuses.
My Project
Playing baseball in New York is hard enough: finding a field to play on, equipment, etc, but when it rains for two straight weeks, we are out of luck. After years in the concrete jungle of the South Bronx, I want my students to be able to stretch out, run around, and just be kids. My kids spend every day playing games, practicing sports, and living life surrounded by concrete. This is not just a New York City thing. Getting our players to practice in an environment other than our schoolyard will help keep them motivated throughout the year. The batting cage at Chelsea Piers simulates a pitcher throwing the ball which will help with recognizing the ball out of a pitcher's hand. This is a fun opportunity to keep players involved.
As most of the students are immigrants or children of immigrants from the Dominican Republic, baseball provides them with an opportunity to see connections between American and Dominican culture.
Teachers have also seen the undeniable, and positive, affect baseball has had on the academic performance of our players. Our kids love to play.
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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 Mr. Davis and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
