I just met my wonderful class. Many of them are the children of deployed military personnel and all are eligible for free breakfast and lunch. Half my students receive ELL/ESL services, six students are in Indian Education, and five are language delayed.
My twenty-eight students are like sponges who want to learn but they lack the background and vocabulary for most subjects so they need extra support in order to be successful.
For most of my students, this is their first real experience with school and the majority of them have no toys, crayons, print materials or books in their homes. They cannot afford to go on field trips. School is everything to them.
I have been teaching for over twenty years and I have the same dream that I had when I started teaching, I dream that all my students will be successful, but I find that I need more tools and supplies to help them. We are a high poverty school and my students need the help of DonorsChoose.org.
My Project
All my children are eligible for free breakfast and lunch but our school is not a Title I school. Many of my students are deemed at risk and our school lacks the resources for them. A large percentage of my students are ELLs and their parents work two jobs to try and make rent money. They do not have basic school supplies like pencils, crayons or coloring books. All these conditions severely handicap my students.
In spite of all their handicaps, my students can be successful if they have concrete experiences learning about math, STEM related topics and finance while learning how to get along.
In order to help my students, I need to increase their number sense from the minute they walk in the door. Every day, we come together to share and learn on the floor. Unfortunately, our carpet is old, stained and just plain gross. We need a new carpet but not just any old carpet—we need a number line carpet. I am asking for a special, magical math carpet that will help convey a sense of numbers to my students. With this carpet, my students will be surrounded by numbers. I am also asking for a variety of nonfiction, picture and leveled books for my students so they can have access to beautiful, new, math related books.
Please consider helping my students. Your support would have an immediate positive impact on the lives of these terrific kids.
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 Ms. Bartz and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.