LOGAN SQUARE — A first-year Brentano Math and Science Academy teacher asked for help updating and enhancing the school’s literacy center, for use during one of the most vital years for literacy growth — and the community responded.
First grade teacher Melissa Hendler was looking for support via the crowdsource funding site, DonorsChoose, in an attempt to raise about $700 for “Ms. H's Lovely Learning Literacy Centers.” Her students are “given the opportunity to develop their love and passion for reading through different literacy centers set up in her room.”
The fund reached its goal within little more than a day, thanks to eight online donors.
“My bright young students come from a predominantly low to middle income Hispanic neighborhood. Their families share in our passion about providing the best education of their students,” Hendler wrote on her DonorsChoose page.
Hendler noted that "first grade is one of the most important years in terms of growth in literacy, [so] I have literacy curriculum nights quarterly, explaining to parents how students are learning how to read and what should be expected in terms of progress and growth, and finally, helping parents understand the best ways they can help their child at home.”
The donations to Hendler’s class will pay for 30 subscriptions to Scholastic News and Science Spin for the school year, in addition to 12 “Help Yourself Book Boxes” and two sets of “Classroom Classics Read Along” for her 30 students.
“With the Scholastic News subscription, my students will participate in a daily Current Events center, in which they will explore a variety of current events affecting kids in the United States and around the world,” Hendler said.
The read-along books come with CDs that will update Brentano’s listening center with new literature and book boxes will be used to organize the ever-expanding classroom library.
The fund drive had reached $761 in pledges as of late Monday afternoon as eight donors added funds to the total. A breakdown of all costs and a tally of the drive’s progress can be found here.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
