Last fall, Georgia teacher Jaime Williams received a listening center and audio books for her classroom through DonorsChoose.org. Ms. Williams was so inspired by the generous donations from individuals to support her classroom that she designed an economics lesson to simultaneously teach her third graders the importance of giving.Ms. Williams’ students participated in a class project she called "Pay It Forward," in which each student wrote a persuasive letter to grocery store managers at Publix Supermarket asking to donate sweets for them to sell. The managers generously provided cookies, and the class was able to raise $300 to continue the cycle of giving.The students completely funded one Chicago teacher's project and donated another $100 to a second Chicago classroom project that has now been fulfilled. Since funding the projects, Ms. Williams' third graders have been writing pen pal letters to one of the Chicago teachers who plans to continue the "Pay It Forward" project.Click here to watch a news clip about this truly inspirational project.
