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In June, Ernst & Young LLP challenged their leaders in a new way. Not content to just be auditors and business advisers to some of the world’s most powerful companies, or consistently being rated a “best place to work” by publications ranging from Fortune to Working Mother Magazine, they thought up yet another way to distinguish themselves as out of the box thinkers!

At the Mid-Atlantic Partner, Principal, Executive Director and Director’s (PPEDD) meeting, Ernst & Young challenged their PPEDDs from its Baltimore, Greater Washington, Philadelphia and Richmond offices to support DonorsChoose.org in their respective communities through its first-ever School Is Cool Challenge, which pitted the four locations against each other in a friendly competition for a great cause. The three-day challenge has already benefited nearly 2,000 students. All this leads up to their “Cares Day” in September, where all Mid-Atlantic Ernst & Young personnel have the opportunity to do hands-on service in local public schools, as well as local parks, the USO, YMCAs and a host of other deserving not-for-profit agencies.

So who won the first stage of the challenge? Don’t let the numbers fool you: the Baltimore office’s four donors comprised 20% of their PPEDDs, solidly earning bragging rights. What will happen in the months ahead as the challenge gets rolled out to entire offices? Check back in at the School is Cool Challenge to keep tabs on them!

On a personal level, as a former Ernst & Young employee, it was delightful for me to work with them on such an innovative, creative partnership.

Thanks, Ernst & Young, for caring about schools, and being cool!

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“To remember him is to feel both gratitude for the gift of his friendship and grief over its brevity. In his honor, we would like to plant a garden in the courtyard in the center of our school, a courtyard that so many of our classes look out upon, as a way of honoring his spirit and his cherished, but too short life.”

These words were written by a Brooklyn teacher who suffered the loss of a first grade student in 2006. Many donors chose to give to this project commemorating his life: first in the Spring of 2007, “Andry’s Garden,” and again this year for the project “Renewing Andry’s Garden;” both projects were so moving and inspiring that we just had to see it for ourselves.

Andry’s Garden was such an oasis on the hot, brilliantly sunny day when we visited Brooklyn. Bordered on all sides by the school’s corridors and classrooms, it housed several flowering plants, a water garden, and herbs that the younger children had picked clean for their cooking classes!

The space that now holds Andry’s Garden was never used until this project came alive. It is now a place where classes are held, teachers and students can eat their lunch, and parents and members of the community can come and enjoy. Andry’s mother frequently visits this garden that was created in honor of her son. DonorsChoose.org is not only helping classrooms with their needs but also getting parents and the community involved with their local school.

Ms. R., along with her gardening club, have sent multiple thank-you packages to allow donors see how this project came to life: from the beginning stages when the children were planning the garden, to when the plants were actually planted. One of the thank-you packages was made at our visit there! Being able to experience the children thinking of what to write and getting excited about their letters to the donors was truly amazing.

The Operations team spends so much time interacting with teachers by email and phone – it was wonderful to meet the students we serve personally, to share pizza, a beautiful space, and to hear their thoughtful questions. Thanks, Gardening Club!

- Divya, Elaine, & Meghan

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Below are five wonderful and inspirational classroom projects that are waiting for funding in the Atlantic Region. Enjoy browsing through them!

“Creating the Next Dr. Seuss,” Philadelphia, PA

Ms. P knows her students live in difficult circumstances. With no art class or material, they have limited ways to fully communicate what is happening in their lives. The much needed art supplies she has requested for her students will “allow them to express themselves without limitations because they will be able to draw how they feel, what they think, and what they want people to know about them.”

“The Great Paper Chase,” Durham, NC

These fourth graders from a North Carolina Elementary School love using computers to do their work. What work they can do, however, is limited by a lack of paper. With more paper, they’ll be able to print out what they do at school and stick it to their fridges at home. What’s more, they’ll also begin a class newspaper, a project sure to teach and inspire. The problem for Mr. C and his class isn’t imagination or motivation; it’s a simple sheet of paper. Times a few hundred.

“Creative Math Instruction,” Rock Hill, SC

Mrs. F regularly has to face off against the formidable enemy of teachers everywhere: boredom in the students. To help keep her disabled students more engaged and better able to understand math, she needs materials that will allow them to put these abstract concepts into a tangible and easy-to-understand reality. Specifically, plastic hamburgers and fries, along with DVDs. Math can be a dreadfully dry subject. With these aides, Mrs. F will transform a formidable subject into an attractive one.

“Shakespeare On Hand,” Danville, VA

“True, I talk of dreams,
Which are the children of an idle brain,
Begot of nothing but vain fantasy.”
- William Shakespeare

With help, Mrs. B’s imaginative dreams will not just be a vain fantasy. Her multi-faceted project will draw in students of every interest. While the ninth grade students read Romeo and Juliet and the tenth grade students read Julius Caesar, they’ll also be discussing the many themes present in the plays. Eventually, they’ll rewrite them and make their own puppet-theater version of each play. This is one of those projects that makes you want to go back to school.

“History Comes Alive,” Washington, DC

Here is another project that sounds so engrossing you may wish to fund it and then enroll in this fourth grade class. After reading about the Age of Explorers, with books provided by this project, students will create historical personas to immerse themselves in history and subsequently, in their learning as well.

Thanks for reading!
Adam Aronow
Washington DC Intern

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…For awards, and we’ve got another one to report here at DonorsChoose.org. On June 2^nd, DonorsChoose.org was named a ComputerWorld Honors Laureate and Finalist. What does this mean? DonorsChoose.org was recognized as an organization whose “use of information technology has been especially noteworthy for originality of conception, breadth of vision and significance to society.”

Thanks to our friends at Sapient, who nominated us for this award, we were selected to be one of about 200 Laureates, and were granted a further honor, designated as one of five finalists in the non-profit sector. The big day on June 2^nd included an awards ceremony, honoring and medaling all 200 laureates, and it finished with a beautiful gala at the Andrew Mellon Auditorium in Washington DC, where finalists and award winners were announced. I was on site, dining with our Sapient promoters and some fellow laureates, and I was pleasantly surprised to be called on stage to collect DonorsChoose.org’s finalist award. Here I am, beribboned, and awarded:

I can safely say we’re excited to keep using technology for good!

For more information on the ComputerWorld Honors Program, click here.

-Kate, Deputy Director, Atlantic Region

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Two organizations that we at DonorsChoose.org have a lot of respect for are Teach for America and the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP). That’s why we jumped at the chance to work with our colleagues here in Atlanta to convene a panel made up of: Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America, Mike Feinberg, co-founder of KIPP, and our own founder, Charles Best.

These three Fast Company/Monitor Group Social Capitalist Award Winners spoke on June 10th, about improving education in our country. They also shared some fun stories about starting their organizations – who knew U2’s “Achtung Baby” played a key part in the founding of KIPP or that it would take some tasty treats to convince the first teachers to use DonorsChoose.org?

The audience made up of community leaders spanning foundations, corporations, the government, and education, participated in the discussion and networked before and after the event. Further demonstrating the collaboration among our organizations, a first grade Teach for America teacher, a fifth grade KIPP teacher who had received resources through DonorsChoose.org, as well as Jaime Williams, previously featured on our blog for her class’ Pay It Forward project, also attended.

The strong turnout really spoke to the emphasis that Atlanta leaders place on education. We at DonorsChoose.org are excited and energized to be a part of this great community of organizations and leaders as we work toward providing solutions to the challenges that face education today!

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