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In the San Francisco Bay Area, Mr. Kidder is third grade teacher who’s not only growing a garden, but a village. His students at Palma Ceia Elementary school love learning about the environment, but they lack the resources they need to grow a successful garden.

Mr. Kidder has a deep passion for environmental education, and his students are fascinated by gardening. This gifted teacher says, “I want my students to be able to understand that by eating plants means that they need to respect the plants — how they grow, what goes into the ground, what is in the air that the plants are taking in and converting through photosynthesis to provide us with oxygen.” To further bring the message of the importance of a garden home, Mr. Kidder has invited some of his students’ parents, who are themselves gardeners and landscapers, to help with garden planting and maintenance. In this way, the third-graders gain a deeper appreciation for the work their parents are doing and the interconnectedness of their “village.” DonorsChoose.org is proud to have helped by bringing Mr. Kidder’s vision to the attention of citizen philanthropists, who provided plants and nonfiction books about plant life-cycles.

San Francisco television reporter Lyanne Melendez ran a story about Mr. Kidder’s garden recently, as part of her award-winning series on DonorsChoose.org. You can view the video of Mr. Kidder and his classroom, here .

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First, from the great state of Delaware:

TEACHERS SPEND OUT OF THEIR OWN POCKETS TO PREPARE CLASSROOMS

Teachers nationwide spend an average of $475 of their own money on classroom supplies and materials each year, according to a study prepared by Quality Education Data Inc. for the last school year. The biggest portion of that spending is for first day of class preparation, reports Edward L. Kenney in The News Journal (Del.). When school districts go through tough financial times, especially in districts facing a triple-punch of spiraling energy and health care costs and, often, failed referendums, teachers sometimes have to spend a little more. But veteran educators look for summer sales to spruce up their classrooms and motivate children, and hoard supplies during good years to make things last during bad ones. The lower the grade, the more teachers tend to spend. Some teachers save receipts because they are allowed to deduct up to $250 on their federal income taxes.

And, from West Virginia:

SCHOOLS MUST PROVIDE ESSENTIAL SUPPLIES

Teachers can provide parents with lists of supplies their child may want to have at school, but they can’t require them to buy anything essential to their education, according to a new statewide policy, reports the Associated Press. The West Virginia Board of Education outlined the policy in a memo to county school boards just in time for back-to-school shopping. State Superintendent of Schools Steve Paine said any textbooks, paper, writing utensils and other materials that are an “integral, fundamental part of the elementary and secondary education” must be provided free. Non-essential items that are commonplace in schools, such as backpacks, tissues and hand sanitizer, are not considered integral, Paine said. Schools also can request that any additional equipment needed for performance-based classes, such as band, orchestra and dance, be provided by parents. However, if a student can’t afford to buy instruments or costumes, the county school system must have a plan in place to allow the student to participate. No child, Paine said, can be denied participation in any curricular offering because his or her family is poor. Before the policy, use of school supply lists varied from county to county based on local interpretation of a 1995 state Supreme Court opinion, Randolph County Board of Education v. Adams. The state policy is “in alignment” with the high court’s opinion, Paine said.

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