School: Universal Alcorn Charter School, Philadelphia, PA
Teacher: Ms. Jane Graham, 5th Grade ELA Teacher
Project: Upgrading classroom library and giving students books that will foster their love for reading for life!
For our first Empire Gives project, we selected Universal Alcorn Charter School, which serves low-income students right here in the Philadelphia area.
Here’s the Project Request:
My Students
I recently moved into 4th/5th grade ELA position with 65 students. My students are incredibly passionate about school and their learning! They love every chance they get to read, especially during free time. I moved from a 1st grade position and do not have books for them to read on their levels. They would absolutely love a classroom library with books on their grade level.
Many of my students live in a high-need community where many come from at-risk homes.
With students living in these conditions, school does not come as a first priority. Therefore, I want to do everything I can to make a positive impact on student achievement and help them be successful.
My Project
The books and book bins that I have requested already have a "home." I have a bookshelf in my classroom waiting to be filled with genuine literature for my students to ready. I have included classic books that I enjoyed reading as a child and books that are popular now. Both, of which, I know that all of my students will enjoy.
The donations to this project will help to improve my students' fluency and comprehension abilities in reading, as well as their love for literature in general.
My students already love to read and are always asking for books to read. By donating to this project, you will be able to give them the books and more. My English Language Arts classroom will finally be complete with a classroom library full of authentic literature.
After finding this project, we decided to make this our first fundraising effort in our home state of Pennsylvania and donated the full amount requested. This allowed DonorsChoose.org to provide Ms. Graham’s classroom with copies of the following well-loved books:
- Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
- The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
- Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
- Holes by Louis Sachar
…and 26 other titles.
We are excited to hear that Ms. Graham’s students will have access to these great books and are thrilled that we will be helping to foster their love of reading.