My little sister, named Teacher of the Year for a Georgia school, asked if I would post the following note on my blog in thanks to those of you who responded to my previous request for books and gift cards to help her stock her classroom library. She teaches elementary school children with special needs. She says that your gifts have put her "in teacher heaven!"
Hello my sister,
I just wanted to say thank you to you and your clients for all of your support in my efforts to enrich the lives of my students. We recently completed an awesome project made possible by your donations. I was able to order a number of books that I have been interested in for sometime now, which cover issues of social and personal movements for freedom and equality. We read these pieces to foster critical literacy and made a number of individual and world connections. I was floored by the insight and creativity that was put into the creation of their book entitled Freedom or Not (a look at expressions of freedom and oppression in our school). To make the book, I gave them cameras and asked them to capture images reflecting the theme of the book. I wanted to empower my class to tell their stories. The results were priceless, and I want to share with you some of the quotes that were made over the course of our journey.
"I feel very good and I am so happy we are done and can see our hard work. I liked reading the books and making our own books by taking pictures around the school. I feel important and free." Jesse
"I like the book Freedom Summer the most. I liked taking notes while we read the books. Those books we read were cool! I thought it was cool to go around the school and take pictures of freedom. "
Jeremiah
After reading a number of books on civil rights and stories from Ellis Island-
"If you can't be in America because you're old, sick, Black, or poor- is America really free?"
Sean
"I thought that it was nice that ourr teacher trusted us to do this project because it was like an adventure just like the book we read Going Someplace Special."
Sara
Thank you again my sister for helping me get the resources I need in order to make my classroom a place for learning, exploring, empowering, and motivating. I love you, and I will keep you posted on future projects. Our next project is going to be about the role we play in saving our environment.
She also wrote the following personal note to a client who recently sent her a gift card:
Thank you for your donation to the "teach the children" efforts. I am extremely fortunate to have found a career that wakes me up at six in the morning full of excitement and passion. Because of your thoughtful gift, my students have been on an awesome educational journey. We have been studying the importance of critical literacy and how we can make both personal and social connections and changes. They recently completed a photojournalism project on what freedom means to them. This project led them to think about things in a manner which concluded in them having a new perspective on a word that once had a simple meaning. The connections between photography and literacy were inspirational to say the least.I am excited about continuing to expose my students to various forms of literacies and literature. On behalf of my class I would like to say thank you for helping me cross off a number of books from my wish list in order to make this idealistic concept a reality.
You simply cannot fathom how happy your contributions have made me and how much pleasure I've gotten out of hearing my sister's excitement over her students' progress. This is such good work. Thank you.
