We are an International Baccalaureate school that focuses on engaging students in project work. However, our students come from high poverty areas and are often unable to be exposed to experiences available in more affluent areas. We have a high population of students with special education goals and a significant number of students needing additional language support to learn English.
Too often, students are missing key components that allow them to more easily find success at school.
Many of our students have a difficult life at home. Increasingly, they turn to their screens or the streets for engagement. The loss of interactions with people face-to-face creates a hardship in schools that often feels insurmountable. As an educator, I seek not only to educate the minds of my students but to help foster their connections to people.
The days of teaching a single subject are over. While I am currently considered a reading teacher, my focus is shifting to science civics in the upcoming year. I seek to build a classroom in which the needs of all students are met, without question, without hesitation, and without a thought to the cost.
My Project
Each year, I always struggle with making a "Back to School" supply list for students. There are many students who have families able to purchase their supplies without too many issues. More and more, however, I find students coming to school without some of the basic materials we have come to accept as necessities in the classroom. I know how critical preparation for the school year is, and I refuse to let a student feel like a "failure" because they start the year without the supplies.
I want to be able to tell my students, "Bring your brain, I have all the supplies to aid it waiting." Having a notebook and folder for class is an essential part of belonging at school.
Studies have shown that writing notes by hand, rather than typing them, helps us to remember. Every August, I rush out to stores to stock up on these basics, knowing many of my students will not be able to provide their own. In providing these supplies for kids, I help them to jump one of the hurdles that can bar their success in school.
I am also requesting art supplies for my classroom. The markers, ink, glue sticks, and colored pencils will help students transform a composition book into an interactive notebook for science and civics. These notes are more dynamic than simply copying lines from a whiteboard and encourage students to engage more in the note-taking process.
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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 Mrs. Robinson and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
