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Teachers have always played an important role in supporting their students’ curiosity about the world. The everyday presence of smartphones and internet access has shifted the way that students understand current events. With a world of information now at students’ fingertips, emphasizing media literacy is one key tool that teachers can use to guide students toward the credible and away from the questionable in 2019. Now that over two-thirds of Americans get at least some of their news from social media, it is especially important for students to weed out what is fact and what is fiction. Whether you teach elementary, middle, or high school, media literacy will help your students draw connections between concepts, encourage student-centered learning, and help students recognize how they fit in to our larger society. Check out how some teachers have used DonorsChoose to request materials to teach media literacy in their classrooms.

Media Literacy Brings the World into Your Classroom

Ms. Ramirez chose graphic novels to teach her elementary students about media literacy because they offer both visual and textual information to analyze with an added bonus—her students already love them. Mrs. Ramirez writes that media literacy prepares her students to “process and understand the many messages we receive from our media environment,” which are crucial skills for their success. That’s not all – along with reading March, by Congressman and civil rights hero John Lewis, Ms. Ramirez will also empower her students to make their own graphic novel on a historical topic.

Empower Educated Youth With Media Literacy

In order to keep his high schoolers up-to-date with current events, Mr. Stein requested subscriptions to a news magazine aimed at young adult audiences. Not only does the subscription come with teaching resources, Mr. Stein also requires his students to read, reflect on, and discuss at least one current news article every week. “When my students leave my class at the end of the school year, my goal is for them to be more literate about what's going on in the world which, in turn will increase their capacity to empathize with others,” shared Mr. Stein. He likes that the articles give immediacy to topics that may otherwise feel mundane for his high schoolers.

Teach Students To Analyze Media Literacy

For her early readers, Mrs. Bragdon created a project for a suite of kid-friendly magazines that she’ll use to promote critical thinking and analysis of media information. “I want to teach my students how to analyze information and make sure they have the materials to succeed,” said Mrs. Bragdon. She’s also incorporated flashlights to get her students excited about spotlighting media stories on her classroom reading series, Flashlight Fridays. Mrs. Bragdon is excited to teach media literacy because it will prepare her students to evaluate media information, as opposed to simply retaining it.

Student Engagement Through Media Literacy

Using a hands-on approach, Mr. Purdie integrated media literacy into his ELA lesson plan by creating a project for a classroom computer. Mr. Purdie wanted the computer to enable his middle school mediamakers to create multimedia projects and “participate in media literacy competitions.” He was inspired to do so after hearing many of his students express interest in media broadcasting and tech-related careers. By helping his classroom gain media production know-how, Mr. Purdie hopes to, “foster students’ media literacy skills and cultivate their curiosity for learning.”

Invite Your Students to Be Critical of the Real World

Ms. C opened a project for 23 books on media literacy that would introduce media theories and concepts necessary for filtering through today’s media landscape. As her students prepare to graduate, Ms. C wanted to ensure that her school library had media literacy resources to prepare them for life after high school. “Our students need media literacy education and materials more than ever in order to navigate and evaluate the dynamic, and often uncertain media world they live in,” Ms. C writes.Teachers, want to add media literacy tools to your classroom?

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Individuals can support teachers and students at donorschoose.org/hurricanes

NEW YORK, October 11, 2018 – DonorsChoose has established a special recovery fund to help Gulf Coast and Southeast teachers and students in classrooms impacted by Hurricane Michael. This follows efforts launched in September to support teachers impacted by Hurricane Florence in the Carolinas. Individuals can visit www.donorschoose.org/hurricanes to select a recovery effort to support, and donations will be used to help teachers at damaged schools gather the supplies they need to rebuild their classrooms, including books; basic materials such as paper, crayons, and pencils; and other recovery resources.

Give Now

“Teachers have a unique set of needs when their schools are damaged by storms like Hurricanes Florence and Michael. We’re standing by ready to help them rebuild their classrooms or equip temporary facilities while the recovery process begins,” said Charles Best, founder of DonorsChoose. “We’re so grateful for our donors and corporate and foundation partners who support these recovery efforts. With their help, we can ensure teachers have the resources they need to get students back to learning as quickly as possible.”DonorsChoose.org has previously helped raise over $10 million to help teachers recover after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, Superstorm Sandy, tornadoes in Moore, Okla., and Joplin, Mo., and historic flooding in Louisiana in 2016.

About DonorsChoose

DonorsChoose is the leading platform for giving to public schools. Teachers across America use the site to create projects requesting resources their students need, and donors give to the projects that inspire them. Since its founding by a Bronx teacher in 2000, more than 3 million people and partners have given $740 million to projects reaching 30 million students. Unique among crowdfunding platforms, the DonorsChoose team vets each project request and ships resources directly to the school. Every donor receives photos of their project in action, thank-yous from the classroom, and a cost report showing how every dollar was spent. DonorsChoose was the first charity to make the top 10 on Fast Company’s list of the Most Innovative Companies in the World.

"Asset-framing is defining people by their aspirations and their contributions, then acknowledging the challenges that often extend beyond them, and investing in them for their continued benefit to society.” —Trabian Shorters | Founding CEO, BMe & DonorsChoose Board Member

Empowering Teachers and Students

At DonorsChoose, we aim to support teachers seeking additional classroom resources to help their students thrive. In doing so, we hope to uplift communities and give teachers the opportunity to show the public what makes their students special.

We encourage teachers to talk about their students in the most positive light, focusing on what makes them unique, what their passions and goals are, where their strengths lie — instead of focussing on what students lack. Not only does this ensure that students and their families would feel proud of how they’re being portrayed, but it also gives our community of donors insight into what’s possible with their support.

Describing Students' Strengths

Teachers have the opportunity to share what makes their students special in the essays describing their request. When we talk about project request essays that use asset-framing, we mean three things:

• Students are defined by their strengths and aspirations, such as what they want to be when they grow up.
• Students are framed as having agency; students are active participants in their learning and lives.
• There may be some mention of the students’ difficult personal circumstances, but students are defined first and foremost by their goals, achievements, and character rather than their struggles.

Moving the Needle on Asset-Framing

To encourage teachers to use asset-framing in their project essays, we made some adjustments to the prompts that help teachers write their project requests. Teachers  see:

Teachers are encouraged to read example essays as inspiration. We’ve recently updated these examples to ensure they all implement asset-framing.

The Impact

Since we’ve started encouraging teachers to take this positive approach, we’ve seen a 27% increase in the number of teachers using asset-framing in their project essays.

As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, we take trust and accountability seriously. We screen every project created and photo submitted to ensure teachers demonstrate how the requested resources will improve student learning and that student safety and privacy is protected.

Teachers-as-Screeners

Our team of 250 “Teachers-as-Screeners” (TAS) volunteers look at every classroom request before it’s posted to our site. These volunteers are experienced DonorsChoose teacher-users and are given in-depth training on the elements of an eligible project.TAS volunteers are supported by our staff, who offer guidance, provide feedback, and use their expertise make final decisions when needed. With the support of our team, volunteers aim to review every project within three days of submission so that teachers can take advantage of time-sensitive funding offers.

Eligibility

When we review projects, we first determine whether or not the project is eligible for DonorsChoose.

Educator Eligibility

To create a project on DonorsChoose, teachers must:

• Be employed full-time by a US public school or district
• Be a “front-line” educator (classroom teacher, librarian, guidance counselor, etc.)
• Work with students at least 75% of their time

Project Eligibility

All DonorsChoose projects must meet the following criteria:

• All requested resources must be used by students or provide a student experience Projects requesting Professional Development resources must show how the resources will help enhance their students’ experience
• The request must be appropriate to a teacher’s school (e.g., if a school can only service PC devices, teachers should not request Apple products)
• The project cannot foster discrimination or proselytize a religious or political viewpoint
• Cost of labor, capital improvements to the school or grounds, vehicle purchases, salaries, or royalty/rental fees may not be requested
• We encourage teachers to submit projects that can be carried out at anytime during the school year, as it can take anywhere from four minutes to four months for a project to be fully funded

Essay Screening

Along with evaluating each project’s overall eligibility, our screeners review project essays with an eye for the following:

• Resource description. Teachers should describe the exact resources they’re requesting and how students will use them.
• Student experience description. Teachers should describe how students will benefit from the resources, if funded.
• Privacy. Project descriptions may not include student names (first or last), full school names (initials and abbreviations are acceptable), room numbers, or social media handles and accounts.

If project essays do not meet these requirements, our screeners will send the project back to the teacher for editing before it’s posted to our site.

Photo Screening

The classroom photos that teachers submit along with their project are screened closely to ensure student privacy and safety is protected. We look for a few things:

• Identifying materials. Photos may not show identifying information, like a student’s name or a room number.
• Student prominence. A student’s face may not take up more than one-quarter of the photo.
• Content. Photos may not include clip art, and student faces may not be censored by emojis, graphics, or blurring.

We provide teachers with guidelines on taking safe classroom photos. If a photograph is unsafe or ineligible, our screeners will immediately return the project to the teacher; we won’t review the rest of the project until they provide an eligible image. Additionally, we ask all teachers to have parents sign permission slips before submitting photos of students.

Asset-Framing

We strongly encourage teachers to use “asset-framing” language in their project essays —  emphasizing students’ strengths, goals, and dreams instead of the things they may personally lack or the challenges they face. Learn more.

Questions? Contact Us!

Kirk Smiley | Principal Director, Advocacy and Public Partnerships

‍ksmiley@donorschoose.org | 317-403-9233

Need classroom resources, but tired of reaching into your wallet to pay for them? Look no further! DonorsChoose is the free, non-profit platform for teachers to request materials for their classroom. Teachers create a classroom project (affectionately known by our teachers as "the shortest, easiest grant you'll ever write") and citizen donors give any amount to the project that inspires them. Since DonorsChoose was founded by a Bronx history teacher in 2000, this unique community of teachers, donors, and corporate and foundation partners have brought over $700 million to public schools across the country.

Here's everything you need to know to get started and bring this funding to your classroom:

In this step-by-step video, you'll go from DonorsChoose novice to awesome classroom project creator! Whether you need new books, musical instruments, a trip to the local science museum, or something else entirely, you can receive it through DonorsChoose. Ready to create your first project? Get started today.

At DonorsChoose, we’ve helped hundreds of schools recover after natural disasters. Here’s what we do when we know a disaster is on its way and likely to damage schools.

1. Fundraise. We know that it can take days or even weeks for teachers to return to their classrooms and assess their needs, but fundraising is most effective when national attention is focused on the impacted region. We start reaching out to citizen donors, foundations, and corporate partners right away to build a fund for affected teachers to tap into once they’ve identified their needs.
2. Teacher outreach. We monitor news and social media, talk to districts and state leaders, and verify reports of damage to build a list if impacted schools. We then reach out  teachers and administrators in affected schools to learn how we can help.
3. Fulfilling projects. Once teachers assess the damage, they create projects requesting the resources their classroom and students need. Because we’ve already raised the funds for these projects, we instantly begin fulfilling the requests. Our team coordinates with teachers and administrators on the ground to ensure we’re sending resources at the right time and to the right location.

"DonorsChoose was a great resource for teachers to reach out to other people that may be able to assist. The turnaround time for the projects was quick, and teachers were able to use those resources faster than what the district provided." —Principal Guajardo, Mitchell Elementary, Houston ISD

Where we've helped

Here are some of the areas we’ve helped teachers and students get back on their feet.

Tornadoes in Joplin, MO, 2011

Over 260 classrooms in Joplin, Missouri were destroyed by a tornado on May 20, 2011. Joplin teachers worked tirelessly to restock their classrooms with the things they lost, and donors around the country came together to help.

Superstorm Sandy, 2012

On October 29, 2012, hundreds of classrooms along the east coast were flooded, leveled, or damaged by Superstorm Sandy. The DonorsChoose community came to the rescue, donating funds to replace classroom furniture, first aid kits, technology, musical instruments, and books.

Tornadoes in Moore, OK, 2013

When an EF-5 tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma in 2013, 140 teachers lost their classrooms. Three of our staff members were on the ground helping teachers assess their needs, and contributions from our generous community of individuals and corporate partners helped us fund over 450 classroom projects.

Louisiana Flooding, 2016

In August 2016, Louisiana was devastated by historic flooding. Hundreds of classrooms were damaged, and several schools were completely destroyed. Individual donors along with our corporate partners like AT&T, Horace Mann, and Staples, brought more than 700 classroom recovery projects to life.

Hurricanes Harvey & Irma, 2017

Hurricanes Harvey and Irma flooded schools across Florida, Texas, and Louisiana. Through a combination of grants from partners like the Rebuild Texas Fund and individual donations, our community has given more than $9 million towards Harvey and Irma disaster recovery projects from hundreds schools, and continues to support the many schools on the long road to recovery.

“After experiencing the horrible effects of Hurricane Harvey, our faculty and staff have been able to put the pieces back together. We are truly thankful for all of the support from this awesome organization." —Tyla Thomas, Principal, Refugio Elementary School

Right now, we’re raising funds for schools in the southeast who have sustained damage from Hurricane Florence. Charity Navigator, the charity watchdog organization, has recommended DonorsChoose as a way to help after the storm because of our dedication to transparency and accountability.‍

See our Hurricane Florence recovery efforts so far.

The back-to-school season is well underway — with all of the excitement and energy that comes with it! As students settle into their classrooms, teachers’ plans begin to come into focus. They’re seeing wiggly students who would benefit from a balance ball or wobble stool, planning the books their students are excited to read, and learning who in their class lights up during hands-on science experiments. We’re thrilled to work with school district leaders like you to empower teachers seeking extra resources to help their students thrive.

We’ve also had a busy back-to-school season! Along with our usual work raising support from donors and corporations across the country, we’ve put a renewed focus on listening to you — the district leaders and administrators who make school possible.

To learn more about the unique needs, goals, and challenges of America’s public school administrators, we’ve teamed up with AASA, The Schools Superintendents Association, the professional organization for more than 13,000 educational leaders. We talked to AASA leaders and members, learning about how individual districts can help teachers use DonorsChoose to support district-wide priorities and about the challenges that K–12 crowdfunding poses to administrators.

We’re thrilled to have joined forces on two new resources that we hope will support your district through this school year and beyond.

The Back-to-School Crowdfunding Toolkit for District Leaders

In collaboration with the AASA, we've built a toolkit designed specifically for district leaders as they prepare for the school year ahead. You'll find:

• K–12 crowdfunding best practices
• A breakdown of the controls and transparency measures baked into DonorsChoose and how to take advantage of them
• Case studies of administrators using DonorsChoose to support district priorities

Dive into the Back to School Crowdfunding Toolkit.

Administrative Tools on DonorsChoose for District Leaders

This new resource page provides tools that give you insight into your teachers' use of DonorsChoose, while ensuring they can get the most out of our platform. On this page you can:

• Sign up for free, regular reporting on your teachers DonorsChoose use
• Send us your district technology guidelines so we can direct your teachers to request only district-compatible technology resources
• Access teacher training materials
• Learn about funding opportunities from our corporate and foundation partners that your teachers can leverage

Access the tools you need to get your district set up.

We’re thrilled to work with you to bring your teachers’ classroom dreams to life. If you have any questions about how we can support your district goals and priorities, reach out to ksmiley@donorschoose.org.

With district technology guidelines built into the shopping experience, teachers can ensure they’re requesting technology on DonorsChoose that’s compatible with their district’s IT requirements.

Last school year, teachers created more than 32,000 classroom project requests for technology on DonorsChoose, seeking everything from laptops and tablets to e-readers, projectors, robots and more. While getting technology into the classroom is often the biggest hurdle, ensuring it works seamlessly with the other technology and IT systems at school can be another challenge. Mac or PC? Dell or Lenovo? What about Chromebooks? And tablets?

Many districts need teachers to use specific devices that are compatible with district-wide applications, licenses, and networks. To help teachers, district leaders, and IT administrators align on the right tech for their classrooms, DonorsChoose has introduced a new feature in the teacher shopping experience: district technology guidelines.

District leaders and IT administrators can now submit their technology guidelines to DonorsChoose to incorporate into the teacher project creation process. Once guidelines are uploaded, teachers shopping at technology vendors will see a message with the district’s recommended technology, as well as tech items or brands to avoid. Teachers have the option of clicking over to a more extensive district tech policy to be sure the items they’re requesting comply with district guidelines. Teachers will also see the the district recommendations in their final project cart.

“Every district will be a little different in how they want to handle this,” said Mark Racine, Chief Information Officer of Boston Public Schools. “We try to stay platform-agnostic and love the idea of giving advice as to which devices will be the most successful for teachers in our district.”

“Educators and students benefit from the generous support of outside donors and the opportunity to integrate technology-based tools in the classroom,” said Guadalupe Guerrero, Superintendent of Portland Public Schools. “By clarifying upfront both the relevant district-level policies and system requirements of any hardware or software, new technologies can more seamlessly and effectively be introduced into the school environment to support excellent teaching and learning.”

Jody Brooks, an Atlanta teacher who has had 35 projects funded on DonorsChoose, including many for technology items, will be one of the thousands of teachers who will see these guidelines during the upcoming back-to-school season. She knows first-hand the power of getting the right technology for her students. “When my class gets technology funded, the world opens up and all of the answers to our questions get a little bit closer.”District leaders and IT administrators can submit their technology guidelines via a brief form. The district guidelines feature will only be seen by teachers if their district administrators have submitted their recommendations to DonorsChoose.

‍Are you a district administrator interested in submitting your district’s technology guidelines? Fill out this form, and learn more at www.donorschoose.org/administrators.

With district technology guidelines built into the shopping experience, teachers can ensure they’re requesting technology on DonorsChoose that’s compatible with their district’s IT requirements.

Last school year, teachers created more than 32,000 classroom project requests for technology on DonorsChoose, seeking everything from laptops and tablets to e-readers, projectors, robots and more. While getting technology into the classroom is often the biggest hurdle, ensuring it works seamlessly with the other technology and IT systems at school can be another challenge. Mac or PC? Dell or Lenovo? What about Chromebooks? And tablets? Many districts need teachers to use specific devices that are compatible with district-wide applications, licenses, and networks. To help teachers, district leaders, and IT administrators align on the right tech for their classrooms, DonorsChoose has introduced a new feature in the teacher shopping experience: district technology guidelines. District leaders and IT administrators can now submit their technology guidelines to DonorsChoose to incorporate into the teacher project creation process. Once guidelines are uploaded, teachers shopping at technology vendors will see a message with the district’s recommended technology, as well as tech items or brands to avoid. Teachers have the option of clicking over to a more extensive district tech policy to be sure the items they’re requesting comply with district guidelines. Teachers will also see the the district recommendations in their final project cart. District guidelines are already available on DonorsChoose for teachers in the following districts:

• Atlanta Public Schools (Georgia)
• Barron Area Schools (Wisconsin)
• Boston Public Schools (Massachusetts)
• Elmore County Schools (Alabama)
• Gaston County and Guilford County Schools (North Carolina)
• Mesquite Independent School District (Texas)
• Moore Public Schools and Tulsa Independent School District (Oklahoma)
• Portland Schools (Oregon)
• Seattle Schools (Washington)
• West Ada Schools (Idaho)
• Worcester Public Schools (Massachusetts)

“Every district will be a little different in how they want to handle this,” said Mark Racine, Chief Information Officer of Boston Public Schools. “We try to stay platform-agnostic and love the idea of giving advice as to which devices will be the most successful for teachers in our district.” Educators and students benefit from the generous support of outside donors and the opportunity to integrate technology-based tools in the classroom,” said Guadalupe Guerrero, Superintendent of Portland Public Schools. “By clarifying upfront both the relevant district-level policies and system requirements of any hardware or software, new technologies can more seamlessly and effectively be introduced into the school environment to support excellent teaching and learning.”Jody Brooks, an Atlanta teacher who has had 35 projects funded on DonorsChoose, including many for technology items, will be one of the thousands of teachers who will see these guidelines during the upcoming back-to-school season. She knows first-hand the power of getting the right technology for her students. “When my class gets technology funded, the world opens up and all of the answers to our questions get a little bit closer.”District leaders and IT administrators can submit their technology guidelines via a brief form. The district guidelines feature will only be seen by teachers if their district administrators have submitted their recommendations to DonorsChoose.Are you a district administrator interested in submitting your district’s technology guidelines? Fill out this form, and learn more at www.donorschoose.org/administrators.

You’ve decided to give this DonorsChoose.org thing a whirl and you want to make sure your classroom project will be funded. Here’s everything you need to know about funding your projects and getting your students the resources they need! Since 2001, public school teachers have been posting projects on DonorsChoose.org and telling folks about those projects. They’ve collectively developed and refined the ways they go about this, helping to fund more than one million classroom projects. Now, we’ve distilled all of this success into four essential steps you can take for your project.

1. Post a project for $600 in resources (or less)

When you create a classroom project, you’re online shopping through our site (at places like Amazon, Lakeshore Learning, and more than 15 other vendors) and then writing a couple of paragraphs about your students (so donors get a sense of your classroom). As you create your project, here’s how to set it up for success: Keep your shopping cart total to $600 or less.Teacher Dave Stuart Jr. explains: “Smaller projects are easier to get funded than larger projects.” Keeping your shopping cart below $600 allows you to get those resources to your students on the double. (If you need a lot of materials, don’t worry. You can simply post multiple $600 projects.)Create your project now>>>

2. Send 4 emails

Once you submit your project, it’s time to make sure people know about it. Email is the most effective way to spread the word. However, there’s an email secret that our most successful teachers use: The best email plans have two parts.Part one: Send an individual email to three people who care about you and your students. Let each person know why you thought they might be excited to check out your project. (For example, maybe your mom always supported your dream to be a teacher or your best friend is always asking what you’re up to with your students.) These three emails will jumpstart your project in a huge way. Now for part two: Send a fourth email to 5-10 additional people who care about you and your students. Ask them to spread the word about your project. “I believe most people want to help students and teachers but either don’t know how or have a limited budget,” explains teacher Michelle Ramos. “I always tell them that it’s fine if they can’t contribute. Instead, I ask them to post the link to our project on their social media and many are happy to do so.” (And if they donate, even better.)Just a few ideas for your email list: Your extended family, your running group or book club, that one friend who is amazing with social media, your principal, your students’ parents, your old college buddies, the head of your neighborhood association... the list goes on.

3. Create at least one post for your Facebook page

Let your wider group of acquaintances know about your project. Tell them about your students and give a little preview of the amazing things you're up to. They may be inspired to donate or help spread the word.One terrific moment to post is when you first submit your project. For example, you could start you post with, "I just submitted a request for my students on DonorsChoose.org, a nonprofit that helps support public school teachers. Check it out: <<insert project link here>>".

4. Thank every single donor (right away)

When a donor gives to your project, respond with a quick, thoughtful thank-you. This doesn't just get your gratitude endorphins flowing (though it'll do that too). It also helps you fund this project — and maybe even the next one.Your message lets a donor know how much you appreciate their donation. It also implicitly encourages help with any projects you might post in the future. Bonus: Prospective supporters can see that you’re super engaged with your project and are more likely to donate. A solid thank-you note is the crucial final step in any project’s success. These techniques have helped over 400,000 teachers bring materials to their students. Follow all four and your project will be next.“Being a DonorsChoose.org teacher means being part of a whole network of generous people: teachers who share ideas and donors who support projects,” says Dona Helmer. “I am always amazed by the folks who reach out and and are willing to help me and my kids by donating to my projects.”

"Late last night, the crowdfunding website DonorsChoose.org featured more than 35,000 requests from teachers seeking cash — for field trips, computers, musical instruments, and even an incubator for chicks. But when the clock ticked past midnight, those requests vanished. All the teachers’ needs had been answered by a single donor — a company specializing in cryptocurrency."Read the full story on Chronicle of Philanthropy.

What was the book that turned you into a lifelong reader? Teachers have used DonorsChoose to request over 20 million books to help nurture the next generation of bookworms. After this fall’s #FillEveryShelf book match, we got a chance to sit down with an incredibly generous citizen donor, Elsa Brule. Her impact speaks for itself: Over the past 8 years, she’s supported tens of thousands of classroom projects. She’s also a book-lover of the highest order, and she enjoys supporting teachers who are helping students fall in love with reading. We asked her how she picks projects, why reading matters, and about the books she loved as a kid. Happy reading!

What does Elsa look for in a book project?

Elsa starts by looking for titles that kids will recognize as “relevant in their world.” A few of the titles she’s seen students especially engage with include Amulet, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Baby Mouse. The latter works especially well for students who aren’t yet reading at grade level, she says, because “it's thicker, it looks like a chapter book,” which helps make sure students who haven’t caught up to their peers yet aren’t embarrassed. Elsa also supports projects with non-traditional reading materials, like graphic novels and cookbooks. Why cookbooks? It’s “empowering” for younger kids to learn to make their own food, and “it makes them feel a little bit older, a little more mature.” Kids need to practice reading, and to get them there, “we have to give them things they love to read.” When Elsa looks at a classroom project request, she looks for teachers who can paint a compelling picture of what their classroom is like. She recalls a recent project where the teacher noted that “one student using his mother's purse as a book bag.” And that kind of specific image sticks in the mind. Elsa said she “hardly had to read any more [of the project]. Anything [that teacher] wanted, I wanted to provide.”

What book turned you into a lifetime reader?

A classic children’s novel kicked off Elsa’s lifetime love of reading: The Borrowers Afield by Mary Norton. But it wasn’t love at first sight. Here’s how Elsa describes meeting her first really challenging book: My older sister, who is 9 years older than I, gave them to me as a Christmas gift. She told me that she explained to the clerk that I read well above my years. I was not an advanced reader, but that compliment from my sister was a carrot that was dangling out there. I remember the day I sat down with The Borrowers Afield and I could hardly get through that first page. It took me a while, even as an adult, to truly get into the flow of that book. Again, however, I was determined that I was not going to disappoint her faith in me that I was a good reader, and after I pushed my way through those first two, three, five, six pages, I was engaged with the story and I loved it.

Why is reading so essential?

Teachers go to a lot of trouble to find that magic book that will kick off a student’s love of reading. As Elsa puts it, “Trying to match up the right kid with the right book is a little bit of a game, but if you give them a buffet, they'll choose.” That’s why she believes it’s important to help teachers build out a wide-ranging classroom library, to make sure every student can find the right book. Elsa describes reading as a “lifelong companionship,” and especially essential when “we feel powerless in the face of all the problems of the world.” She points out that reading provides each child “a resource within themselves,” and she articulates a feeling that will be familiar to all of us book lovers: “You'll never be lonely, you'll always have that comfort of a good book.”Thank you Elsa for helping so many students find the magic in a great book!Want to channel Elsa and see all of the ideas teachers have for life-changing book projects?

See All Book Projects