Help me give my students new books to inspire them.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Enger's classroom raised $641
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.
My Students
My students are hard workers who persevere against the odds. They attend one of the most rigorous, high-performing high schools in the state and they excel in their academics.
However, while my students are avid readers, most cannot afford books of their own.
Our school serves about six hundred students from a low-income area, most of whom receive free or reduced-price lunch. They rely on our school for access to high-quality materials. During the pandemic, this has been especially challenging, but there are still students reaching out to borrow books and we're making it happen.
My Project
These books will be used this year and in perpetuity for my AP Literature and Composition class. It's a college-level, senior English elective. My students are confident in analyzing novels, but many of them are intimidated by poetry. "Deaf Republic" and "The Prophet" both lend themselves to close reading of individual sections--while also helping students understand the meaning of the work as a whole.
These poetry collections were chosen for being high-interest and accessible while also critically acclaimed.
Our project title comes from a poem from Lawrence Ferlinghetti called "Poetry as Insurgent Art":
I am signaling you through the flames.
The North Pole is not where it used to be.
Manifest Destiny is no longer manifest.
Civilization self-destructs.
Nemesis is knocking at the door.
What are poets for, in such an age?
What is the use of poetry?
The state of the world calls out for poetry to save it.
If you would be a poet, create works capable of answering the challenge of apocalyptic times, even if this meaning sounds apocalyptic.
You are Whitman, you are Poe, you are Mark Twain, you are Emily Dickinson and Edna St. Vincent Millay, you are Neruda and Mayakovsky and Pasolini, you are an American or a non-American, you can conquer the conquerors with words...."
These students are the class of 2022. Their high school experiences have been shaped by the pandemic and poetry will help them process what that means for their generation. Thank you for helping them find their voice.
More than half of 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. Enger and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
