The Connecticut RISE network, a group of educators that pairs with urban schools to provide resources and learning opportunities, has donated over 320,000 dollars to fund teachers’ projects in East Hartford, Hartford, Manchester, Meriden, Middletown, Naugatuck, New Haven, Norwalk, and Stamford Public Schools and approximately 54,000 dollars has gone to Westhill teachers for their own projects.
RISE matches donations for projects they evaluate as promising from teachers in schools included in the RISE network, making it much easier for teachers to reach their goal.
DonorsChoose is a fundraising platform open to teachers and support staff from every public school in America. Through DonorsChoose, teachers can post a project they need additional funding for, and donors can donate money to the project they find most appealing or necessary. Teachers can sign up, request the items they need, and post their project so it can be funded. Teachers choose the exact products they need and those are posted along with the project so donors know exactly where their money is going. They must also create an in-depth proposal for their project, including the number of students affected and the purpose of their project.
Donors can go directly to donorschoose.org and give money to projects they choose. Alumni of a school often donate to projects from teachers they may have had in high school.
Projects that have been funded for Westhill teachers include a portable printing center proposed by Ms. Wheeler and items for the marine science lab in agriscience proposed by Ms. Porter-Collins.
“DonorsChoose is an amazing platform for teachers who have grand ideas but limited funding to make those ideas a reality for their students,” Porter-Collins said.
DonorsChoose enables teachers to accomplish dreams that may seem big, but with the help of generous donors and organizations like RISE they can become a reality.
