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CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. Some of the online heaviest traffic for charitable donations happens in the last two days of December, and two Croton teachers are looking to private online donors to fund classroom projects. DonorsChoose.org allows public school teachers to fund super-specific grants for classroom materials.
I would estimate $1,000 a year, said Anna Maria Strattner, a fourth grade teacher at Carrie E. Tompkins Elementary, about how much of her own money she spends on her classroom every year. It just eliminates the amount of money youre spending, and the idea is like, its possible to get it. Like bean bag chairs, I wouldnt buy those for my kids, but they would love them, she said when speaking about what she might finance with DonorsChoose.org.
The website allows public school teachers to finance grants for specific items, through private online donors, and then ships the items directly to the teachers. The website, started by a Bronx high school teacher, has attracted the attention of Oprah Winfrey and Michelle Obama. Comedian Stephen Colbert is on the non-profits board.
Strattner currently has a grant to finance Time for Kids social studies magazines, which cost about $160 for 25 individual copies. The grant totals $189 with a small donation to DonorsChoose.org. Teachers at CET receive a small budget to buy supplies for their classroom each year, about $400.
Kristina Robinson, another fourth grade teacher at CET, said the $400 per year is generous, but goes quickly. If theres something you need, you go out and buy it, she said. I feel like your classroom is like your home. Robinson is trying the website for the first time, trying to fulfill a grant for beanbag chairs for reading time.
She said that beanbag chairs might seem frivolous, but that studies find students that are comfortable to read, read for longer.
Strattner has practically become an ambassador of the website, funding dozens of grants and telling other teachers, like Robinson, about the benefits. I try not to make my grants outrageously expensive because I want them to get funded, said Strattner. Her grants have funded a wide variety of classroom materials, from paint brushes to new books.
The Croton-Harmon School District is not in session for the week between Christmas and New Years Day, but according to some online donation processing services, this is when people donate the most.
There are 27 days left to fulfill Strattners grant, and according to Network for Good, a donation processing non-profit, about 50 percent of Decembers donating action takes place on the last two days of the month. About 10 percent of annual donations distributed by Network for Good are collected in the last week of December.
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