Before heading into work Friday morning, nearly 270 teachers in San Antonio who signed up on Donors Choose, a fundraising site where educators can list classroom and student needs and receive donations, saw their requests fully met.
From new keyboards, to art supplies and calculators, San Antonio’s City Education Partners in partnership with local businesses like Shiner Beers, Frost Bank, 80|20 Foundation and Spurs Sports and Entertainment, donated $168,626 toward funding 410 different projects across several local public and charter schools.
Teachers received notification emails on the last day of National Teacher Appreciation Week.
“By funding these wish lists, we’re saying thank you and making a meaningful investment in the future of our community by supporting those who shape it,” said John Brozovich, CEO of The Gambrinus Company which sells Shiner Beer, in a statement on Friday.
Projects ranged from just $376 for hand sanitizer to nearly $30,000 for an interactive playground that “helps connect classroom learning with the physical skills in the gym.”
Victoria Medina-Oliva, a middle school teacher at Mark Twain Dual Language Academy, raised $7,173 for 30 TI-Nspire calculators, devices she says have better capabilities than her current TI-84 calculators. The Ti-Nspire models can color code and have a connectivity feature that allows Medina-Oliva to send warm-up exercises directly to students’ calculators.
“I was happy that it’s, you know, it got funded. I was getting a little worried,” Medina-Oliva told the Report. “The students are able to have one [calculator] for themselves. That’s the other thing I was happy about.”
On her fundraising page, Medina-Oliva said the funds will ensure her seventh grade honor students, eighth grade and Algebra I students have access to the advanced technology for learning and state testing.
Julianne Torres, a high school forensic science teacher at Warren High School, submitted a $1,700 project to Donors Choose for 10 pairs of drunk goggles, or impairment goggles, to give students a hands-on experience learning how alcohol affects the body during her class’s toxicology unit.
Torres said having hands-on experience makes learning more memorable for students, and her classroom should have access to the goggles by the fall semester.
“[When] I got the email — that was just such a wonderful way to wake up. I did a little dance,” Torres said. “I told the students, they were super excited, and it’s just going to be such a great experience.”
Another fundraising project on Donors Choose was from at least six teachers from Loma Park Elementary, part of Edgewood Independent School District. They asked for funds to buy jackets and sweaters for their students.
One teacher from Loma Park, Silvia Collins, received $1,700 to buy several jackets and beanies for bilingual students.
“For these students, many of whom come from diverse backgrounds, it’s especially important that they feel secure and confident, both in the classroom and on their way to school,” Collins wrote on her project page.
Over at Bonham Academy, elementary school teacher Crystal Casanova received the last $79 for her $157 classroom project “Painting What We Read,” for students to draw and paint their visualizations of books they read and mail them to their friends and family members.
Casanova had a second project on Donors Choose, “Sensational Science Stations,” for hands-on science kits totaling $435, which was funded in part by CEP and the San Antonio Independent School District Foundation.
“With the increase in budget cuts, arts are unfortunately disappearing in our schools and I believe my students deserve to have these rich experiences in their education,” Casanova said on her Donors Choose page.
After getting the notification that her project was fully funded, Casanova posted a message saying thank you to donors.
“This is how we ensure students continue to love learning. I try to create lessons that my students can look back on fondly for years to come and this would not be possible without your generosity. With gratitude, Ms. Casanova.”
