2 posts tagged “donorschoose.org”
I got my first round of direct teacher feedback for one of the projects I funded on donorschoose.org. I got a letter from the teacher and several letters from the students with a set of pictures as they opened up the learning kit they wanted. When I got the package I wasn't feeling in the best mood but it totally changed my day. It was incredibly satisfying to see how happy the kids were and how they expressed their feelings in their letters. Most of these schools have kids from low income homes and the schools don't get the best funding. A selfish wish of mine is that one or all of those kids will be inspired to do great things in life. When they achieve success they will in turn go on to help other kids who don't have access to all the resources they need.
Here is the letter from the teacher
to study with the white wings of time passing is not that our delight?
- ezra pound , the pisan cantos
Life is basically a lottery when it comes to where you're born, who you're born to and the kinds of opportunities that arise. One thing that gives most people the ability to evolve from their circumstance is education. I won the lottery in terms of the parents I was born to and they provided me with the best education possible. I really didn't take advantage of all the opportunities presented to me in school primarily because I would spend all my time behind a computer writing code (classes were secondary to figuring out how to optimize an inner loop for texture mapping a polygon). I managed to stumble my way into university and magically got out with a decent degree. I've always loved learning (just not necessarily from a set curriculum) and have pretty varied tastes when it comes ot the kinds of subjects I look into. I think this all stems from the environment I was brought up in. I was free to do what I wanted and got the resources I needed to do it.
One of the things that horrifies me about the US is the standard of education (K-12). It scares me how poorly kids are being educated and how very few resources they are given. People will argue macro level issues about more funding , vouchers etc but in the end it isn't really helping the kids. I believe every child should get a good education and develop the skills to see the world beyond their suburb, city, state and country (become world thinkers). US children are being left behind in the new world economy as the rising economic stars are racing to make their kids the best and brightest the world has to offer.
I don't see much changing from a high level but I believe we can do something from the ground up. That's where donorschoose.org comes into it. You basically get to fund projects at the class level around the country. You can jointly fund a project with other people or donate everything yourself (I've done both). The organization takes care of making sure the money gets used in the right way and even sources the supplies the teachers need. You also get feedback from the teachers explaining how things are going for their students.
Here is one letter I got from a teacher:
"Thank you, thank you! My class is currently reading about and discussing the topic of kindness. By generously funding this request, you are not only providing materials that will help them be successful in math, you are simultaneously providing a lesson in character. I can't wait to share the good news with them - that there are kind people who want to help us be successful in school! Again, thank you"
I have a tendency to support math and science projects but I also encourage buying books on any subject. It doesn't take a great deal of money to start. You could pool some money with friends, co-workers or go it alone. Start with one project and see how it goes. If we can help a few kids achieve something better in life that's kinda cool :)
