My students need 50 copies of Anne Fadiman's The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down.
FULLY FUNDED! Mr. Okamura's classroom raised $749
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
In order to learn how to become better readers, thinkers, and conscientious members of our society, my students desperately need a full class set of Anne Fadiman's "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down."
My students attend a low income urban school in Northern California.
The majority of my students hail from Latino, African-American, and Southeast Asian backgrounds, many of whom will be the first in their families to face the challenges of attending college. Access to academic English through profound and complex non-fiction texts such as Anne Fadiman's "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" is absolutely crucial to ensure their success in English class as well as in their later academic careers. My students need all they can to prepare themselves for the rigors ahead in their lives.
My Project
By reading this book as a case study in the kinds of medical dilemmas that they may face as future medical professionals, my students will explore the cultural dimensions of medical care to further complicate their understanding of the space where medicine, society, and the law collide. Anne Fadiman's study in medical anthropology is a perfect example that illustrates the challenges faced by the Hmong community in Merced, California, the family of Lia Lee, an epileptic child, and the doctors who tried to treat her.
Long-term social change is enacted not by catchy political slogans or through committed educators.
It happens through our youth reading books, educating themselves, and maintaining a society built upon the ideals of equity. My students need these books. Be a part of that change. Make it happen.
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
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. Okamura and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
