Google on Monday surprised 295 teachers, including one Renton classroom, with donations totaling $338,000 through the website DonorsChoose.org.
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray announced that the company fully funded requests made on the education crowdfunding site by every teacher in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties. As a result, teachers will receive materials for 36,000 students, ranging from paper, pencils and books to laptops, musical instruments and microscopes.
In Renton, Nelson Middle School Librarian Sherri Ashlock will receive $552 for 44 new graphic novels, or Manga, for her students in grades 6 to 8.
“My students come from diverse backgrounds and cultures and are looking for more Manga at their interest level, yet most only have my school library to turn to for reading materials,” she said in her request. “Many of these kids come from challenging home lives, as evidenced by the fact that 57 percent of our students are on free or reduced lunch. I can make the library a safe and welcoming place for all of our students, but my budget cannot afford all the Manga books they need.”
Her goal was to put a new Manga in the hand of any middle school student who was interested to “brighten their day and remind them that people care about them and want to encourage their reading aspirations.”
This was the third project Ashlock’s had funded through DonorsChoose.org and she was stunned to hear how many teachers were funded by Google this time around.
“I’m just overflowing with giddiness,” she said on Tuesday. “I’m just stunned at how much they gave; so many students will be blessed and I’m glad that my students will be a part of it.”
Murray traveled to one Seattle elementary school with Google representatives to make the announcement and bestow the donations on Monday.
“There’s no better way to start off the school year than with this surprise funding for our local teachers. This generous donation to our classrooms is greatly appreciated,” said Murray, who made the surprise announcement in front of teachers at Highland Park Elementary School in Seattle.
On DonorsChoose.org, teachers post projects requesting materials they need for their classrooms, and donors support the projects that inspire them. Among the projects funded this morning were laptops and a tablet for kindergarten students at Highland Park Elementary, a new set of ukuleles for Springbrook Elementary School in Kent and mapmaking materials for Lowell Elementary in Everett.
According to a press release, over that past few months Google has announced similar “flash funding” campaigns in San Francisco, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Austin, Kansas City and Los Angeles. DonorsChoose.org is a nonprofit website, founded in 2000. So far, more than $260 million has been donated to projects for teachers. The money goes to mostly low-income communities and many that are in disaster-stricken areas.
