Schools
Concord Teachers Ask for Help Through Donors Choose
The Donors Choose website gives teachers a way to solicit financial support for projects in their classroom. Teachers at Concord schools have posted 58 proposals asking for tens of thousands of dollars. Do you think it's a good way to fund schools?
With education funding in a tentative state, some teachers have chosen to take the matter into their own hands — using DonorsChoose.org to advertise the projects and resources in their classroom that need financial support.
Anyone with a charitable streak can browse the projects on the website and choose to donate with the click of a button, whether its $1 or $1 million. Around 70 percent of projects achieve full funding, according to the organization, for everything from stacks of crisp, new books to the little-but-important things like a decent classroom carpet or a high-capacity hole punch, which are both needed right here in Concord.
In fact, more than 58 Concord educators are seeking to boost their classroom supplies and launch learning initiatives using Donors Choose, with projects spanning 11 Concord schools — including a special education school, elementary schools, middle schools and high schools. The most requested items? Books and "ELMO" document cameras.
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Mt. Diablo High School has the highest number of proposals, with 24 teachers asking for donations totalling more than $30,000.
Ms. Paul wants to bring the Vietnam War alive for her students by having them read "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien. She's asking for enough cash to buy 25 copies of the book.
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"It's such a beautifully written book full of just the right horror and pathos to get the kids into the complexities of this time period and have them look at the consequences of war both in foreign countries and at home," writes Paul on the Donors Choose project page.
The type of projects seeking funding span literature, science, technology and art — from Mr. Fuller asking for 109 copies of George Orwell's "Animal Farm" to Ms. M needing new glassware for the science lab.
Find a project to donate to by browsing the Donors Choose website, or see what teachers are asking for help with at your child's school by clicking the following links:
High Schools
Middle Schools
Do you think Donors Choose is a good way to fund projects in schools? Have you ever contributed to a project? Share your thoughts and experience in the comments.
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