A nonprofit website where teachers describe projects for students – and where donors choose the projects they want to support – is proving helpful to local schools.
Among those schools is Stevenson Elementary School, where 35 projects totaling $18,000 have been funded since January.
Stevenson’s teachers are among almost 164,000 public and charter school teachers who have used the DonorsChoose.org website to secure funding for $206 million in books, art supplies, technology and other resources that have supported 10 million students.
In Stevenson’s case, the school partnered with Horace Mann Educators Corp., a national insurance company focused on educators’ financial needs. As an agency that focuses on teachers, the company’s agents have been educating teachers about how they can post a project on DonorsChoose.org and receive free supplies. The agency also has donated more than $2 million nationally to projects posted on the website.
Stevenson teachers have received storage bins, athletic equipment, electronic tablets and classroom rugs where students sit in assigned spots for group activities.