Giving Back

When you are afforded an education that others so desperately need, even some in your own family, you really feel drawn to give back.  And, I'm not talking volunteering for the annual fund or ponying up lunch for teacher workdays.  It goes way, way beyond that.

There are precious few Preschool through 12th grade seats at Shelton, under 900 to be exact.  And I know there are other children who desperately need the seats my kids occupy.  So, moving the boys through the system and getting their skills up to snuff quickly is paramount not just to us, but to another family.
Beyond the space issues, and more to the point of our boys, I also am firmly in the camp that remediation of learning differences, when possible, is the best solution.  If you were to ask any representative from Shelton, they would echo that sentiment.  In fact, when they initially worked with us as both boys entered the school, they were very sure to let us know that the average child receives three to four years of schooling at Shelton before they are ready to "mainstream" back into the public school system.

From go, if there was any way that we could partner with Shelton to compensate for gaps, we tried it.  From nutrition to incentives for extra work to eye checks, we tried it all.  But, by far, the biggest bang for our buck came from two places:  Shelton and the Texas Reading Institute in Houston.

With Hooman, we were ultimately successful after four years.  Now, with Babe, we are seeing the same partnership (Shelton plus a program from the Texas Reading Institute headed by Dr. Eldo Bergman) skyrocket him to success that wasn't previously possible. 

So, quite by God's great plan, I was skimming through a magazine and happened upon a charity that I've fallen in love with.  From the first moment I read the bio of the founder, I prayed that his organization would pass the high financial hurdles I have for companies to which Mike and I send money.  DonorsChoose.org passed with flying colors!*

The fact that CEO Charles Best is a former educator warmed my heart.  The fact that he is directly impacting school teachers, who often spend their own hard-earned money on classroom needs, made me giddy.  The fact that the site supports projects big and small, as varied as PE to biology, and that you can contribute a small amount to a big project put a huge smile on my face.

My first order of business was to find a "matching" teacher for the same issues Hoo and Babe had dealt with, specifically reading disorders under girded by phonemic awareness deficits.  It took me all of two seconds to find teachers in impoverished counties with kids who need this help but don't have the classroom tools to make a program work.

I funded a teacher in Pennsylvania, who needed a kit from LakeShore Learning Center (amazing place, if you've never been) for this school year.  The kit will be directly shipped to her school.  The principal will be notified when it is on its way.  WA-LAH.  Direct help to the classroom!  I felt like Superwoman in that moment.

And stories like donors sending $574,605 to Joplin, Missouri after the tornado last May, warmed my heart.  That amazing amount of money represented 5,272 people who gave so classroom furniture, first-aid kits, technology, musical instruments and books could be donated to help 95,256 students.  Talk about First Responders!!  And, the beauty of partnering with people you will never meet who share a common cause, to assist those in desperate need, is kleenex worthy.  It is what makes American great.

With as little as $5, you can assist teachers/their students all over the United States, making this a GREAT project for teaching our children about giving to others.  How much fun would it be to let your child decide which project they like (science, math, art, music...) and have them give a bit of their "giving money" to unselfishly help someone they will never meet?

As you can tell, I'm all giddy about this website.  I hope you check it out and find yourself hooked on giving, too!

*Note:  two different links, one to DonorsChoose.org and another to their page on Charity Navigator, my go-to for making sure the program I'm giving our money to isn't using 45% of  it to raise funds or pay excessive salaries.