My students are dynamic young women who will change the world. Each day, they commute to school, ready to learn and to push themselves academically and personally. This commitment to personal growth and character development inspires me to strive to be the best teacher I can be.
My students are a hard-working group of young women who strive to get into college and make a better future for themselves and their families.
Their commitment to their education is second to none, with some of them traveling more than an hour by train or bus to get to school every day. However, many of my students come from low-income households, and their families struggle to make ends meet. Their parents often work two or three jobs to cover general living expenses, leaving my students to motivate themselves to get their schoolwork done every day. Needless to say, they inspire me each and every day.
My Project
Since we started offering AP English, the classes have become some of the most popular in our school. Last year, my AP English Language class reached capacity! Fortunately, our class novel sets have gotten worn and damaged from several years of use, and we need to replenish our classroom library. Through the use of these books in the past, my students have maintained a 100% pass rate on the state English exam and a more than 90% college readiness rate. It is clear that my students are benefiting from the rigors of AP courses but also through the use of such amazing books as these.
We need class sets of these amazing novels - Animal Farm, Grendel, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Beowulf and more - so that we can continue working toward being college-ready readers and writers.
The next generation of my students needs access to these texts so that they too can prepare for college in a meaningful way.
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 Mr. Van Owen and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
{"pmaHash":"","schoolCity":"New York","showProjectRecommendations":true,"teachersOnPage":[788964],"isTeacherViewingTheirOwnProject":false,"hideTeacherDetails":false,"schoolState":"NY","teacherPossessivePronoun":"his","PMsManager":null,"schoolGradeType":{"id":4,"name":"High School"},"TeacherPMForms":{},"proposalId":3359121,"proposalMessageFormModel":null,"numActiveProjects":0,"completingDonationAmount":0,"teacherHasClassroomPhoto":true,"proposalURL":"https://www.donorschoose.org/project/preparing-for-college-one-book-at-a-tim/3359121/","verifyShowPhotos":"","eligibleToBeCopied":false,"mayHaveReplacements":true,"numStudents":270,"teacherScreenName":"Mr. Van Owen","isEquityFocus":true,"authorIds":{"788964":{"owner":"Mr. Van Owen","donationSalutations":{}}},"displayedPercentFunded":1.0,"proposalsOnPage":[3359121],"proposalHash":"1670054153","isApplePayMobileOnly":true,"progressBarPercentage":100.00,"pmaId":"","teacherProfilePhotoURL":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/272x272/tp788964_272x272.jpg?width=136&height=136&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1515705126915","teacherHasProfilePhoto":true,"currentWorkflowStatusCode":21,"teacherChallengeId":135360,"photosPublished":true,"queryString":"","DonorPMForm":null,"isApplePayEnabled":true,"fundedByTarget":false,"activeProject":null,"donorIdsForImpactPhotoCheck":["NTc1NzExMw==","MTU3MzU5Mg==","MzM3NDg5MQ==","MjUwMjk4NA==","NTc0ODI3NQ==","NTQ4NzIyOQ==","MTgzMDUxOQ==","NDA4NDgzOA==","Nzg4OTY0","NTk0NDE3Mg==","MzE1MzAwNA==","NTc1MTQ2NQ==","MjQ1NzU1Mg==","NTk2NjE4MQ==","NTYyNzY3Ng==","NTk2NjQxNw==","NDcyNDY5","NTk1MDI1MA==","NTc0ODI0Mw==","NTk2ODcxMg==","NTk3NTczOQ=="],"teacherId":788964,"schoolCounty":"New York (Manhattan)","fullyFunded":true,"isStudentLed":false,"isExpired":true,"schoolStateObj":{"code":"NY","name":"New York"}}