Dollars For Sense

         Thank God for teachers!  That’s probably one of many worn-out phrases that we all throw out from time to time when speaking of the obvious need for more respect, pay, benefits, and resources for America’s hard-working educators.  We may also throw it out when thinking back on the longsuffering men and women who tolerated our youthful impulsive behavior, building bodies of knowledge (though we always wanted to believe we knew more), and general life drama that they had to navigate amongst a few to a few dozen other young people.  Whatever past or present view you had or have of your teachers, I hope you can always agree on one thing – they deserve more.  They deserve more of everything – support from parents, respect from students, pay from their school or school system, and the list goes on forever.  In this piece, I want to focus on one “they deserve more” point.  Teachers deserve more and better resources with which to do their job and equip their classrooms. 

My girlfriend, Krista Brown, is a good teacher - a damn good teacher.  Her goal long before beginning her professional teaching career was always to work with kids and give them the best that she possibly could.  Now starting her ninth year as a teacher, that aim is the same.  Year after year, she has maintained that focus and done it well, though frustrating at times.  Before the administrative hurdles, the constantly-changing government regulations and standards, and the sometimes petty issues brought forth by parents, her #1 focus has consistently been her students.  I’ve seen how hard she works and have even had the pleasure of interacting with her students during each year of her career (it’s been tons of fun).  They may not recognize what all she is doing for them at the time, but they obviously enjoy it and benefit from her efforts.

So, why do I brag about my girlfriend’s professional makeup in blogged form now?  Let’s return to the earlier point – Krista deserves more and better resources with which to do her job and equip her educational headquarters.  In her ninth year as a teacher, Krista is now in her first year of teaching Third Grade.  Having started as a Kindergarten teacher and then shifting to First Grade, she accumulated a good stock of materials (often paid from her own funds) with which to teach her pupils and supplement their experience.  Now, she is in a rebuilding year.  But, the school and system in which she teaches can’t/won’t provide extra resources to stock her classroom with age-appropriate books and materials.  That’s where, I hope, you come in to the picture.  Krista has established a project page through DonorsChoose.org to seek funding for a selection of new books that her students will love.  I ask each of my readers to support this project.  Any amount will help.  In fact, if you give before Tuesday, September 23, and enter the promo code INSPIRE, your contribution will be a double help.  DonorsChoose.org will double those gifts.  Please support Krista and her students.  Sometimes, the right book can spark a love of reading that will fuel a child’s success in all other subjects.  It all begins with a book.  YOU can help Krista provide her students, this year and beyond, with those books.  Give in honor or memory of a teacher you loved.  Give in support of the education of kids like yours.  Give because you know the state hasn’t provided teachers with enough and you want to stick it to the man.  Give because you love books.  Just give.  Thank you.  And, thank God for teachers.
 

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” –Dr. Seuss