DonorsChoose.org Gift Card Program Aids Teachers, Kids in LAUSD

Posted in: Education |
DonorsChoose.org Gift Card Program Aids Teachers, Kids in LAUSD
January 14, 2012 | LA Daily News

By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer

Laptops and printers, paints and markers, microscopes and music instruments.

Even seeds and rock.

More than $1.4 million in projects like these have been funded in the two months since the Wasserman Foundation and DonorsChoose.org launched an innovative gift-card program to bring badly needed supplies to Los Angeles Unified classrooms and transform parents into philanthropists.

“As teachers, we need these things in our classrooms,” said Daniella Simon, a fourth-grade teacher at Van Nuys Elementary.

She used DonorsChoose to outfit her classroom with a rug, sound system, camera and photo printer, educational games, books, posters, musical instruments and rocks for an earth-science unit.

“Most charities give to general schools, but this acknowledges the individual teacher in the classroom.”

DonorsChoose was founded in 2000 by Charles Best, then a social studies teacher at a high school in the Bronx. During a noontime conversation with fellow teachers, he envisioned a website that would let educators ask the public for money to buy specific supplies.

That idea evolved into a nonprofit organization, which has helped secure the funding for $90 million in projects nationwide. And it eventually captured the attention of entertainment/sports entrepreneur Casey Wasserman, president and CEO of his family’s foundation, and a longtime benefactor of Los Angeles Unified.

In November, the Wasserman Foundation announced it was pledging $4 million over two years to support district and charter schools — $2 million through gift cards and $2 million in a dollar-for-dollar match of cash donations.

“The Wasserman Foundation helped mobilize more people than any other grant-writing or foundation has in our 11-year history,” said Best, 36, whose charity receives a portion of the proceeds from each request.

Gift cards of $15 were made available to about 600,000 LAUSD and charter school parents, who were encouraged to fund the dream projects posted by teachers at www.donorschoose/la.

The second phase of the program will roll out Jan. 23, when $10 gift cards will be distributed to Starbucks customers so they, too, can become micro-philanthropists.

“We were so impressed with the direct impact that DonorsChoose was having on teachers,” said Rica Orszag, executive director of the Wasserman Foundation.

“The thing that was most interesting to us was the opportunity for Angelenos to have a tangible impact, for them to find a way to donate to local schools or help teachers.

“We realize this isn’t going to solve all of the problems in education,” she added. “But it’s a tool to help.”

The tools sought by local teachers run the gamut from laptop computers and flash drives to pencil boxes and art supplies.

“We get the basics from LAUSD but it’s not enough, and with the budget cuts it’s getting to be less and less,” Simon said.

“I’ve been able to get boxes of pencils and markers and notebooks to last the whole year. A lot of our students can’t afford the basic supplies, so the look on their face when you hand them new things is priceless.

“And these supplies are coming from complete strangers, so we’re showing students that there are good people out there, and how to be generous and how to show appreciation,” she said.

A tour of the DonorsChoose website offers a window into the district’s classrooms, and efforts by teachers to infuse their students with knowledge and a love of learning.

 

Melissa Yee at Chatsworth High wants $200 worth of seeds to teach her science class how plant growth relates to life. Larry Carr at Patrick Henry Middle School in Granada Hills wants two dozen basketballs to improve hand-to-eye coordination.

Amy Leserman at Fulton College Prep in Van Nuys is seeking 50 copies of “The Scarlet Letter” for her college-bound students, while Omar Contreras at Pacoima Middle School wants his theater students to have access to such scripts as “Euripides” and “The Elephant Man.”

Jill Keppel, who teaches second- and third-graders at Rio Vista Elementary in North Hollywood, asked for materials to teach reading comprehension — “but not in a boring, standardized way” — and was surprised how quickly her request was funded.

“I received four or five donations and, with the matching grant, it was done,” she said. “There were parents, but there were also people I didn’t know.”

Fellow Rio Vista teacher Jennifer Clark hopes for the same kind of response to her request for Leapfrog electronic devices for her kindergarten class.

“This will be a treat for my kids, an activity they can do during independent work time that lets them practice their reading,” she said.

Christine Chaussee, a kindergarten teacher at Morningside Elementary in San Fernando, learned last week that her request for art supplies and anti-bullying books had been funded and was on its way.

“I told my class, and their faces were so excited,” she said. “It was like Christmas.”

In her request for books such as “Charlotte’s Web” and “Mr. Popper’s Penguins,” Lemay Elementary teacher Liane Sternlieb explained how she’d use them in Literature Circles, her third-graders’ version of a book club.

“We read together, ask questions, comment on important sections or quotes, relate the story to what we know and to our life experiences and share our thoughts and feelings about the literature. It is a marvelous way to dig into a book and enjoy it to the fullest.”

There were some initial glitches in implementing the program.

Some gift cards given to students went the way of homework and other important papers and never made it home. Some administrators asked parents to come to campus to complete the donation. Some parents who received the gift cards thought it was a bill from the district.

And some would-be donors struggled with the lack of Internet access at their home. School board member Tamar Galatzan intervened, and computers at campus-based parent centers were equipped so moms and dads could contribute.

“This is a great opportunity for parents to make a difference directly at their children’s schools and in their children’s classrooms,” Galatzan said.

Orszag, the Wasserman Foundation executive, said the partnership with DonorsChoose has created new opportunities and experiences for everyone involved.

“It shows parents and teachers what’s possible,” she said. “It also shows people that teachers should be viewed as heroes and are deserving of our help.”


barbara.jones@dailynews.com, 818-713-3710, twitter.com/DNLASchools

MORE ON DONORSCHOOSE

The Wasserman Foundation has partnered with online education charity DonorsChoose to fund classroom projects in Los Angeles Unified and charter schools. The two-year campaign includes $2 million in gift cards and $2 million in matching funds for cash donations.

About 600,000 parents have received $15 gift cards, which can be used through Feb. 16. On Jan. 23, Starbucks will begin distributing $10 gift cards to customers (while supplies last).

Go to www.donorschoose.org/la, where teachers have posted requests for supplies and brief essays on how they will be used. Use the code embedded in the gift card to fund the project.

As of Friday, about 3,000 projects had been funded through the Wasserman/DonorsChoose partnership, and 2,000 others were incomplete.

Photo Credit: Van Nuys Elementary School teacher Daniella Simon shows students some of the rocks from an earth-science kit. The class received these and other educational materials through a partnership between LAUSD, the Wasserman Foundation and DonorsChoose.org. (Andy Holzman/Daily News Staff Photographer)

 

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