Those who can, teach

When deciding on a career path (ha!), I never considered teacher.  I think I would be a miserable teacher, first of all, and I just don't like kids, which you know, are a central component to teaching.  I do have a few friends who teach, though, and as I understand it, it's a very hard job.  And actually, two of my friends teach bilingual education, which to me is above and beyond, because not only do you have to be a teacher, but you have to do it in Spanish as well.  One of these friends is starting a new job, in her own classroom for the first time, in the city.  She's dealing with supply issues that she can't believe, and she's dealing with having very little capital to invest in her classroom.  I'm guessing that the Chicago public schools aren't very generous with their allowances, because they can't be.  On Saturday, she told us that the teachers at her school still don't have a few of the textbooks they need to teach.  Class starts today.  I'm guessing those textbooks didn't show up between Saturday and now.

But that's not the point.  The point is that teacher-friend could use some things for her classroom, things that will probably last her a very long time if she gets them.  And the neat thing is, we can help her get those things.  There's an organization called Donor's Choose, and it exists solely to help charitably fulfill public school teachers' requests for things they and their school districts can't afford.  Teachers submit proposals, and then the public can choose to fund whatever projects they'd like.  Teacher-friend has submitted three proposals:

One
Two
Three

And no, I'm not above asking my friends and readers to contribute even just $5 to one of these projects.  Is there a worthier cause than helping a teacher to educate children?  I don't think so.  I'm definitely going to throw some money in the pot (though I haven't decided which project I want to support yet), and I can tell you that anything you can spare would be appreciated greatly.

Update:  I will re-post links as soon as the funding option is available.  I'm not sure if the person that is doing this knows that her projects are unfundable, so I'll talk to her.  But thanks for commenting, and I changed the title of the post. 

Comments

[Tim]

Sounds like a very worthy cause....the phrase you use in the title, though, is the first half of a quote that's meant as an insult to teachers. It's, "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach."

[Rita]

The minimum donation is actually $10, but still feasible for most people. Your friends projects must be brand-new, though, as none of her proposals have the "fund" button yet. So, we can't actually donate right now. You might want to re-post the links once her proposals are fully operational. :)

[MEL]

The second two proposals have been approved, we'll get to the first one soon! Thanks!

[Dadmo]

Insight funded the two that were approved. When the third gets approved let me know and we'll take care of that too. Great cause...thanks for posting.