Meet Regina Kieran, now entering her nineteenth year as a teacher. Teaching 8th grade Language Arts in Brooklyn, NY, Regina takes a head-on approach to teaching. “Sometimes you just have to close the door and do what you know is best for your students and ignore everything else”.Four years ago, Regina hoped to provide her class with a set of books, but her school didn’t have the funding. She immediately thought of DonorsChoose.org. “My friend had written several grants and helped get me hooked and the rest is history”. To date, Regina has had more than 60 classroom projects funded, totaling over $30,000 in materials for her classes. Through these donations, much needed technologies are going into the hands of her students.Regina is an important part of the DonorsChoose.org team, coming into the office ten hours a month as a volunteer in Feedbackland, where she helps process and send student thank you packages to donors. This summer, DonorsChoose.org nominated Regina for People Magazine’s “Teacher of the Year” award. In addition to ensuring her students have the necessary tools to succeed in the classroom, Regina is also involved with her students outside the classroom walls. She is the adviser of her school’s Builders Club, sponsored by the Parkway East Kiwanis Club. The club has trick-or-treated for UNICEF and organized food drives to benefit NYC food banks. The club was even awarded “Honorable Mention” in the Department of Education’s Service in Schools awards. With this honor, Regina and the Builders Club went to Gracie Mansion and met Mayor Bloomberg and NYC Department of Education Chancellor Dennis Walcott.This teacher isn’t planning on stopping anytime soon—her love for learning and creativity feed perfectly into the teaching atmosphere. At the end of the day, there is nothing like “watching [my students] achieve their potential and become the wonderful adults I knew they could be”.
