The Academy of Americas, an elementary school in Detroit, is certainly feeling the woes of the economy this year (h/t to Pandagon for the link). At the beginning of the school year, the principal drafted a letter asking for supplies important for the school to continue functioning. Supplies like.....toilet paper.
The district is grappling with a more than $400 million budget deficit and is on the verge of being assigned an emergency financial manager by the state.
The letter asks for toilet paper, paper towel rolls, trash bags and 60-, 100- or 150-watt light bulbs.
Parents said a letter went out asking for supplies at the start of the school year.
"They sent out a letter for pencils, pens, they put Kleenex on there," said parent Danny Huddleston.
With the economy currently in the tank, schools need you more than ever. However, most schools are reluctant to beg their community for help and often don't reach out until they're literally in dire straits like the Academy of Americas. After all, we are supposed to provide a free education by law.
Local schools need your help in providing quality education for all students, even if they haven't asked. Please be sure to ask what you can do: we always appreciate your help. In the mean time, here are a few easy and hopefully cheap things you can do to help out schools in your community.
Donating money
Start a "scholarship" for poorer children in the school. You'd be surprised how many students can't afford school supplies, basic sports equipment and even school lunches! Luckily, the federal government makes sure every child can get lunch through NSLP, but students who need basic supplies like pencils, pens, binders and paper drain a school's budget. Donating to a scholarship fund is easy. Simply go to a school's front office and let them know that you'd like to donate to a student scholarship fund. Most schools already have one, or can easily add one to their budget. Community scholarship funds help pay for supplies, field trips, extracurricular activities and other opportunities at a quality education that these children don't always have.
If your school still does field trips, offer to pay for your child and one other student.
Donate school supplies. There are supplies that every school needs and frequently runs out of: pencils, pens, paper, facial tissue, post-it notes, tape, rulers, crayons, colored pencils, markers, sharpies, staples, staplers and tape dispensers, poster paper, construction paper, card stock, copy paper in a variety of colors, graph paper, compasses (circle-making thingie kind), protractors, highlighters, computer mice, glue sticks, Elmer's-style glue, garbage bags, thumb tacks, fun reading books, batteries, printer cartridges (ask which kind they need first), scissors, overhead pens, dry-erase markers, individually-sized white boards, paper towels, band-aids, and paper towels. Your school might have other needs as well. Feel free to ask what is in low supply and they'll happily tell you.
Donate sports equipment. Many schools no longer have any money for after school sports, but in these hard times kids need activities to enrich their lives, give them something to do after school and distract them from family problems. A lot of teachers coach for free but shoulderpads and volleyballs cost money.
Donating time
Read to elementary school students. Reading to small children is immensely rewarding and fun. It also allows a teacher a chance to work with small groups of students.
Offer to chaperone a field trip or school dance. We always need help chaperoning on trips (be sure to ask how much it may cost for you to go). School dances are free for chaperones (bring ear plugs).
Lead a before- or after-school club. "But it's been years since I've been in school," I can hear you say. "What if I'm not good at math?" After school programs are about getting kids excited about something. Play to your own strengths. Are you a good cook? A gardener? Do you like folding origami shapes? Making Lego stop-motion films? You'd be surprised how many other people are interested in learning what you know.
Become a sports coach or assistant. As mentioned above, most schools don't pay their coaches and frequently resort to bullying teachers so we'll donate our time coaching sports or working school dances. It's more fun with more adults helping out.
Encourage your work to donate supplies that would normally be thrown out. Teachers are born magpies. Even if we don't know what to do with 25 keyboards with all the letters worn off them now, we'll figure out something later. Everything from old computers and file cabinets to pencil stubs are useful. Plus, it's a tax deduction so it helps out the business too.
Become a general volunteer. There's a million little things that need to get done every day in a school. Messages need to be delivered, copies need to be made, supplies need to be sorted, experiments need to be set up. If you schedule a certain day to come in every week, or if you give your school a few days warning, it saves teachers and secretaries a lot of time.