Wish Book: A boost for educators in East Palo Alto.
East Palo Alto teachers find ally in foundation, which helps fund classroom materials, field trips
EAST PALO ALTO — When Erin Gonce Wakshlag became the reading intervention specialist at her East Palo Alto elementary school, the veteran teacher knew what she needed to get started. Books. Lots of books. Without a parent-teacher association to help her, Gonce Wakshlag turned to the East Palo Alto Kids Foundation, a nonprofit that provides academic grants to teachers in public and charter schools in East Palo Alto and eastern Menlo Park.
Gonce Wakshlag was awarded a $600 grant and used the money to buy about 300 books for first- and second-grade readers at Brentwood Academy.
“It’s really important that this program exists,” Gonce Wakshlag said. “I wouldn’t be able to do my
job without books … different genres, stories, characters. You want the kids to get involved and love reading. You need a real gamut of books, and EPAK has made that possible.”
Currently in its 23rd year, the East Palo Alto Kids Foundation has awarded more than $2.5 million in grants to teachers, the majority of whom work in the Ravenswood City School District, where 88 percent of families report ongoing financial hardship. Each semester, the foundation awards about 200 Educator Micro Grants of $300 to $600 to teachers who use the money to help pay for materials, books and field trips for their students.
Wish Book donations made to the East Palo Alto Kids Foundation could help pay for classroom instructional aides, including books, microscopes, and transportation and admission costs for field trips.
Teachers use the grants to fund a variety of academic endeavors, but they must specify in a written proposal how the money will be spent and what academic lessons will be achieved. Applications are reviewed with school principals to make sure the state’s Common Core standards are met. Teachers submit a final report and receipts to be eligible for the next cycle of funding.
Other grant requests include games and books for literacy, and materials for science, math, music and art.
“The teachers are spending more; they don’t make a lot themselves,” said Ana Melara Glenn, grants manager for the East Palo Alto Kids Foundation. “Teachers are selfless. They will dig into their own pockets to fund it.
“This is a way we as a community can help alleviate, just a little bit. They’re doing a lot with the $600. That’s the biggest message; you put the money in the hands of teachers who know firsthand where the impact will be and give them the power to see those changes in their students.”
Brentwood Academy is one of 10 schools in the Ravenswood City School District, which serves kids from kindergarten through high school. Many families in the district are struggling financially; 75 percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, the highest percentage in San Mateo County. Eighteen percent reported being homeless and living in garages, shelters or cars.
Seventy-two percent of students speak English as a second language and are behind in basic English and literacy skills.
After spending her first six years in education as a regular classroom teacher, mostly in first grade, Gonce Wakshlag now is the school’s reading intervention specialist, which means she works with first- and second-grade students who are below grade level in literacy. In order to keep her students engaged, she needs a variety of books for 10 different reading levels.
She currently is working with 18 students on a daily basis, four of whom receive one-on-one instruction. She works with the rest in small groups.
One of those students, 7year-old James Fitch, says he enjoys reading class with Gonce Wakshlag because “she brings the fun.”
James said he likes how authors make the characters talk, and he enjoys being able to bring books home from school, like his personal library.
“We take them home all the time,” he said.
Gonce Wakshlag said her students always look forward to the next batch of new books.
“They get so excited,” Gonce Wakshlag said. “The last shipment of books I got last year, I put them out on their tables, and their faces lit up. They were excitedly opening the books, looking at all the pictures. They get really excited.”
When she was a firstgrade teacher, Gonce Wakshlag realized that many of her students lacked background knowledge about subjects they were reading about, so she applied for the EPAK grants to fund field trips for her class.
“They hadn’t gone to a zoo, they hadn’t gone to a museum,” Gonce Wakshlag said. “I decided I’d rather use the money for that, give them those experiences.”