My Wife is Trying to Raise Money for Her Classroom

My wife teaches kindergarten in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, NY, a low-income, high-crime area with lots of needy and otherwise difficult kids. The school where she teaches has been hard enough hit by the budget cuts plaguing the school system that, in the early childhood annex where she works, they have told her she can’t make photocopies because they don’t have enough paper. So they certainly don’t have enough money to purchase the materials my wife needs to help her students learn to read independently.

She has turned, therefore, to DonorsChoose, an organization that helps teachers raise money for classroom materials. The Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Foundation has already pledged all but $98 of the project’s total cost. The foundation’s money, however, is disbursed only when a project is fully pledged and then on a first come first served basis. So, if you can see your way clear to donate–even $1 would help–please give as much as you can as soon as you can.

We know that the earlier kids start to read, the more likely they are to remain readers throughout their lives; and we know that education is central, though certainly not the only factor, in breaking the cycle of poverty in which so many of the kids my wife teaches are living. These materials–the details are on her project page–will truly help her teach them more effectively than she would otherwise have been able to.

Here’s the link one more time: Help Me Inspire My Kindergarteners to Read

Thanks so much for your generosity!

UPDATE: My wife’s project funded in hours after I posted this here, and I know some of the donors were from Alas. Many thanks on her and her students’ behalf.