Throughout her 18 years of teaching, Shannon Howell, who teaches high-ability fifth- and sixth-graders at Alexandria-Monroe Intermediate School, has relied on her own pocketbook and the donations of parents to acquire things for her classroom not provided by the school's budget.But when the school's principal, Mark Bartmas, approached her and sixth-grade reading and writing teacher Megan Overman to create a student-led video announcement program, she knew it wasn't going to be a matter of collecting paper towel rolls or cereal boxes as she'd done in the past. And she would need more than the green sheet of paper taped to a wall."Doing this newscast this year, it's kind of hard to ask parents to send in a green screen," she quipped.That's why for the first time, Howell turned to the Donors Choose crowdfunding site, used by dozens of other Madison County teachers, to raise the $400 she will need for the green screen kit, tripod, virtual reality glasses holder and microphone with windscreen.Read the full story on Chicago Tribune.
