When I arrived to my school in New York City I expected a relatively smooth transition from my school in Oregon. Things were going well. I needed some tape and a stapler to put up some bulletin boards and posters in my classroom. That was easy because I simply opened up the teacher desk in the room and found them, and lots more. It was a little treasure chest of supplies. Then, one day into school, someone came into our room, room 313, and took all of the supplies I had been using, leaving me nothing useful.
So, I decided to go to the supply room to get a stapler, masking tape,
and an ink cartridge for the printer in my room. Well, I was told I had
to purchase all of the supplies myself, and then the school would
reimburse $200 of my purchases. Seemed easy enough, except I had no
money. My family and I had just moved from Oregon and if you have ever
moved, you know what I am talking about.
A friend told me about an on line teachers giving program called Donor Choose. All I had to do was go to the web site and write a request for anything room 313 needed. So I did. I wrote three proposals: One for a projector screen (yes, I had an overhead but no screen to project on), one for two iSight cameras (web cameras to collaborate with a school in Peru), and one for an issue of Time for Kids for each of the students in room 313. In less than a week two of the proposals had been funded. Room 313 had a projection screen and two iSight cameras.
Then, the second Friday of school I came home and checked the mail. In the mail were six hand written letters to me from family friends, people I would have never expected to get letters from. What a sweet surprise. But what I found inside the letters was very unexpected. These gracious people had heard about the supply situation in room 313 and decided to offer encouraging words and support by writing checks for me to purchase supplies. What a blessing, and unexpected blessing!
Now the students in room 313 have the opportunities students in other classrooms have. It is all because we have access to supplies that we didn't have before. I can only imagine what we could do this year in room 313 if we had all of the resources we needed. What an amazing start to reaching our learning goals. Thank you so much to the people who have had the graciousness to extend help where it is truly needed, and thank you so much for investing in children. Pictures to come.
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