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
I believe that a perfect book exists for each of our students - a book that engages, is at just the right reading level and yet is powerful enough to spark a transformative experience in a young person. Unfortunately, we don't have those books at my school.
I work at a small high school in a big city in California.
My students almost all qualify for free lunch, and they have had a variety of sub-par educational experiences that have lead many of them to view themselves at non-readers. Many of them have never read a full book. Our school focuses on the health and bio-sciences and many of my students are here because they want to become doctors and other health care professionals. There is a dramatic gap in skills between where they are now and where they need to be to achieve their goals.
My Project
Several times during my 9 years teaching, I've been lucky enough to witness a transformation in a student. Occasionally, I've been able to give a kid exactly the right book at the right time, and they've plunged their way through it, loved it, and then subsequently devoured book after book. I want to try to replicate that experience with one whole class of students. I did a survey and had conversations with each of my students, consulted with two young adult librarians, and carefully chose a special book for each of my young people. For example, Thinh will get a copy of Down These Mean Streets by Piri Thomas and Daijah will get a copy of Kindred by Octavia Butler. The students will read these books individually, but we'll be working as a whole class on plot, characterization, figurative language and theme. I hope that the novelty of having a special book chosen just for them excites them and that the careful pairing of book to student allows them to really engage with their novels.
My students have tremendous need and yet have access to extremely limited resources.
Funding from donors like you is a step toward the equity that public education so desperately needs today. Perhaps you remember a time when someone handed you a book that changed your life. All young people should have that experience. Thank you for making it possible!
Nearly all 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
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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 Ms. Pezzetti and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
