Rick Patrick
rick@greenepublishing.com
Teaching has always been a challenging profession, even in the best of times. It takes a special gift to be able to effectively transfer knowledge from one person to another, younger person. In recent months, those challenges have become even greater. With many teachers having to alter some of their methods to a combination of in-person and virtual teaching, greater creativity has become more of a necessity. Often, that greater creativity comes with a price tag. With increasingly tight school budgets, teachers frequently need help. That is where the national program "DonorsChoose" steps in to help.
It all began with a history teacher from Bronx, N.Y., named Charles Best, who wanted his students to read the classic, "Little House on the Prairie." As he was making copies of one book he was able to procure, he began to think to himself just how often teachers use money out of their own pockets for classroom materials. He began to wonder to himself how many people would be willing to donate if they could see the projects and just where the money was going. He sketched out a website and shared the information with his colleagues. Right off the bat, 11 projects were funded and the program took off from there. Now, DonorsChoose is available nationwide to every school. Today, 85 percent of public schools in America have posted a project on the DonorsChoose website. In total, nearly two million projects have been supported by 4,682,430 supporters. Both those numbers continue to grow. DonorsChoose has received the highest ratings from Charity Watch, Charity Navigator and Guidestar. Some of their corporate sponsors include: Chevron, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Dicks Sporting Goods Foundation, Verizon, Volkswagen, General Motors, the Charles Schwab Foundation, 3M, Kleenex, Sonic and many others. Many of these corporate sponsors will match donations on certain projects, making each donation have an even greater impact.
Locally, approximately 24 projects have been funded through DonorsChoose. Some of these projects have included televisions in the Madison County High School weight room, health and safety products such as face shields and hand sanitizers, lap desks, classroom supplies, books, and much more. Local teacher Leslie McLeod had one of her virtual learning projects featured on WCTV television. "It's great, I love it," said McLeod of DonorsChoose. Madison County Central School (MCCS) teacher Jamie Andrews has been designated a DonorsChoose Ambassador, meaning she assists teachers in developing their projects, helps in finding potential funding sources, etc.
Currently, there are nine Madison County projects online. These include projects for MCCS, Pinetta Elementary School, Lee Elementary School and James Madison Preparatory High School. To find current, local projects for Madison County schools visit the DonorsChoose website at https://www.donorschoose.org/donors/search.html and type Madison County in the search window. All donations are tax deductible.