Teachers getting creative to expand students’ horizons

State needs to boost funding, so schools can focus on teaching

Teachers across Yuma County are getting creative to get items for their classrooms, turning to crowdfunding to help purchase supplies.

A popular site for such activity is DonorsChoose. org, which finds a variety of projects posted by Yuma County educators.

The teachers all have different needs but the overall theme is the same — helping their students learn, and expanding their horizons.

Ms. Silva at Harvest Prep is raising money to purchase biographies. Her post notes, “My plan is to introduce important figures in history to our students who have similar backgrounds to their own. My hope is to encourage them to aspire and achieve a successful life.”

Mrs. Wilhite at H.L. Suverkrup is trying to purchase the Building Blocks of Science Literary Series. Her page notes, “My students desperately need science materials. We see our neighboring school engage and explore in the field of science, but we do not have the resources to do the same. I want my students to know that despite their economic situation, they too can become scientists.”

Two teachers — Mrs. Hazen at Alice Byrne and Mrs. Gilsdorf at Ronald Reagan — are raising money to purchase subscriptions to Scholastic News, to help boost literary skills and knowledge of current events.

Art supplies. Science projects. Seating options to help accommodate a variety of learning needs. Playground supplies. Reading materials. The needs and requests of our local teachers are diverse, but the goal never wavers: helping our students succeed.

Supporting our classrooms and our teachers should be a top priority for everyone, because the end result — an educated population of graduates — is worth achieving.

It’s disheartening that teachers need to turn to crowdfunding to help reach that goal. They shouldn’t be forced to get creative to help meet their classroom needs, but instead should have access to the funding they need at the start, even when items are outside the box a little. That’s a failing on our state, with state funding for schools down $420 per pupil since the 2007-08 school year, according to Capitol Media Services.

Our elected officials need to make increasing school budgets a priority, and giving schools more flexibility when it comes to deciding how to spend those dollars. Teachers should be focused on teaching, and not raising funds to help do their job.

But until that happens, we need to support our teachers. They are in the classrooms, manning the front line of educating our children and preparing them for the future.

Visit DonorsChoose.org, and give our teachers a helping hand.