Six states partnered with the crowdfunding platform DonorsChoose to tap into federal pandemic funding for individual classroom projects.
From K-12 Dive
By Kara Arundel
June 7, 2022
Second grade teacher Samantha Ramos’ morning work for her students covers essential lessons, but the English language development teacher at John B. Wright Elementary School in Tucson, Arizona, knew something was missing.
Supplies like marble runs and interlocking plastic building discs would help students think creatively and learn how to problem-solve and work in teams. Materials for small group instruction in phonics, such as dice games and flip books, could provide hands-on learning fun, especially as she attempts to strengthen foundational reading skills following COVID-19 school closures and disruptions.
After calculating the cost of all these materials at $838.85, Ramos submitted a proposal in March through DonorsChoose, a popular online fundraising platform for individual educators’ classroom materials and projects.
Two days later, her request was fully funded by one donor — the Arizona Department of Education. A few weeks later, the materials arrived at her school.
″My hope is that all teachers are aware of this amazing tool that is literally at the tip of their fingers,” Ramos said in an email. “As a teacher with students who are growing in both size and knowledge,” she is in constant need of different materials, Ramos said.
Arizona’s direct donations to teachers like Ramos are being replicated in a handful of other states that are also partnering with DonorsChoose to send federal pandemic relief funding and state money to directly support individual teachers’ requests for materials.
According to DonorsChoose, state education agencies in Arizona, Delaware, Hawaii, Nevada, Oklahoma and Utah have together contributed more than $42 million since the beginning of the pandemic to fund teacher-submitted projects in their states.
“Educators are the experts on the needs of their individual classrooms — they are best positioned to make decisions about what investments would support their students in recovering from the impact of interrupted learning, and all-too-often they are not consulted in decisions about how to direct funds,” said Jhone Ebert, Nevada state superintendent of public instruction, in an email.
Photo: Permission granted by Paige Travis
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