My students need two good electric pencil sharpeners and a suction hand sharpener for regular and color pencils in order to be able to express themselves artistically.
Sharp pencils let sharp minds create. Pencil sharpeners are probably the most heavily used tool in the art room. I take great pride in maintaining ours, but sometimes you just need to bite the bullet and get new ones.
It is obvious every day that the 480 elementary students in this inner city economically challenged district are eager to learn, are ready to create and enjoy being here.
Smiles greet you and work is done with a smile and pride. They are outstanding individuals who face many obstacles.
My Project
Do you doodle? Create? Can you imagine not having a sharpener for your pencil? Most days our electric sharpener doesn't sharpen well, breaks the pencil points, jams; the hand sharpener falls apart, and the little plastic ones just break. Two new electric sharpeners and a manual suction sharpener for students who are unable to physically move from the table due to injury would allow all students to continue to create, to work on their ideas, to be proud of what they are accomplishing. Not being able to quickly sharpen the color pencil you are using can send a young artist into total frustration. I feel their pain, too as I work frantically to disassemble, clean and reassemble the sharpeners. Although we are learning flexibility and patience now, it would be nice to focus on our creativity.
Everyone knows that you need to have the right tools for the job.
We need the right tools: two pencil sharpeners and a suction sharpener for physically challenged students. Who knows what we will be able to create if we don't have to stop to fix the sharpener! With a strong foundation of good tools the students will learn good skills to further their education. Problem solving is one of those skills that is essential and that is one reason we are here at Donors Choose. Thank you for helping!
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 Mrs. Culvert and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.