It was a star-studded night in San Francisco last week, but there was some disagreement as to who the real stars were!
To the donors and teachers who gathered at our reception on Thursday night, the star was clearly our founder and CEO, Charles Best. Several of our most loyal donors came to our offices to meet the man who initially conceived and continues to direct our amazing organization. On a stop during a whirlwind West Coast trip, Charles was the official excuse for our party on Thursday night. Throughout the evening, he spoke eloquently about his experience teaching social studies in the Bronx and his belief that there “had to be a better way” to help teachers get the resources they needed to be really innovative and effective. We all loved hearing his sometimes-hilarious stories about the early days of DonorsChoose.org (less than a decade ago!).
But to Charles and to us, the stars were our guests—the teachers and donors who bring our website to life through their requests and their gifts. The teachers who post their project requests provide daily evidence that creative and committed teachers are working undaunted in schools across the country—striving to provide their students with the best possible learning experiences in spite of overwhelming challenges.
And without our other stars–our donors, we would have little more than a really cool website that showcases some amazing teachers. It is our donors who have enabled us to change the learning experience for over 1.8 million students. We were all awed to actually meet some of these online super-stars! And, though there weren’t any official paparazzi, we do have a photo to share with you!
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