“Jordan, you got another package.”
This has been a phrase I’ve been blessed to hear close to one hundred times in 2021. My Donors Choose projects have been funded beyond my wildest dreams this year. The other week we received anonymous donation that funded 3 projects totaling close to one-thousand dollars. There were so many boxes! I couldn’t believe the amount of donated items we received.
I remember crying the night I received the emails. I went from screaming at the top of my lungs and jumping on my couches to being drenched in tears at the generosity we were shown that evening. Someone, that never met, chose us of all classes!? It was humbling. The feeling of knowing how happy my students would be and the benefits the gifts mentioned and many not mentioned made me excited. I immediately sent out a text late that evening telling them to be at school first thing for an epic surprise. When I broke the news, the enthusiasm erupted from them.
In the days that followed, another package and another would arrive, and the joy would fill the atmosphere in our classroom every single time. We were happy and grateful.
Our room is full of generosity from wall to wall, ceiling to floor, cabinet to cabinet. Each gift we receive helps create the beautiful masterpiece we call our classroom. There’s no place I rather be. Big silver letters with the word “FAMILY” are hung across our main wall with images of students and their families. Bookshelves with new books surround us on every wall. Lab-coats are hung behind a curtain waiting for scientists to experiment with them. A carpet sits 23 students waiting to find out what happens to Roz, the robot. A kerplunksound is heard as Skittles drop into a reader’s hand for making their reading goal.
At this point, I’m nearly speechless at the amount of love, generosity, and support that’s been given to me and my students over the last two years. I honestly don’t understand why it’s us. I don’t take it granted. Every time a receive a rocket launching email from Donors Choose it makes me just as excited as the first time I received an email from them. Knowing the impact of these projects make on my students is something I wish I could share with more than just words and images to my donors. They deserve to feel the impact they’re making. My donors are the invisible heroes and heroines that are helping shape future generations.
To my supporters, thank you from my heart and from 23 incredible readers, scientists, and mathematicians. You inspire us to learn, lead, and create change. God bless!
