Throughout the year of 2017, Texas Teachers has been fortunate enough to participate in a variety of charities ranging from Hurricane Harvey relief to educational efforts across the globe in Meru, Kenya. Texas Teachers aims to support and volunteer for a wide range of organizations that positively impact the lives of students and other young children. Contributing and volunteering for these causes allows us to help create a more stable and pleasant environment for students and teachers everywhere.
In the wake of Hurricane Harvey in late August of this year, many schools across the Houston area were largely impacted. The areas effected lost many of their assets in result of mass flooding, as well needing overall repair from the building’s destruction. With the hurricane hitting at the start of a new school year, many classrooms across the Houston area found themselves needing help for recovery to ensure that their classes kept running.
After seeing the large need for help among schools across the area, Texas Teachers created the Adopt A Classroom program—an intuitive to start the recovery process. This allowed individuals, companies, or even other classrooms from across the nation to step in and help these students and teachers who lost so much. By donating needed supplies and sending encouragement, this program uplifted the spirits of all who were involved, whether they were giving or receiving. Texas Teachers was able to successfully match over 700 classrooms in and around the Houston area, as well as donating $8,000 to various districts in need. Over 3,000 donors nationwide participated in the Adopt A Classroom program, as well as some from China, Singapore, and London. Texas Teachers was touched to see the outreach pour in from across the world and facilitate a program that allowed for these effected schools to get back on their feet.
In addition to the Adopt A Classroom program, Texas Teachers helped facilitate other Hurricane Harvey recovering efforts, including a $1,000 donation from Jim Adler on our behalf. The donation was made specifically to recover gym equipment lost and damaged in the hurricane. With the help from Jim Adler, Galena Park ISD was able to replace items along the lines of mats, sports equipment, jump ropes, etc. for students.
Adopt A Classroom has also been extremely successful in raising funds for the Ntubmuri Mixed Day School, located in Meru Kenya. The school servers about 250 students, however they only receive approximately $0.27 per student from the Kenyan government. The program hopes to aid in providing basic needs that will improve these student’s education and experience in the classroom. Teachers of Tomorrow Chief Development Officer, Dave Saba, made a visit to the school and met with the principal and teaching staff. He stated, “These amazing teachers and students were so excited about learning in spite of the tough condition of the school. I knew our team could help them with some basic needs that could have a dramatic impact on their education.”
Texas Teachers is creating an initial fund for the school to build a kitchen to feed the students. For many of the students, this might be the only meal the will eat all day, and currently the school is using a makeshift kitchen. Additional funds are aimed at making sure each student has the books they need and a desk. Since many of the resources are limited, students have no choice but to cram into a few desks and share their materials. As stated by Teachers of Tomorrow CEO, “We are committed to helping teachers around the world. Together we can improve education for all students. Adopt a Classroom programs help get much needed resources to schools through our extensive network of amazing teachers and supporters.”
Outside of the Adopt A Classroom program, Texas Teachers has also volunteered with the Be An Angel foundation. Their cause is to improve the quality of life for children with multiple disabilities by providing specific equipment and select services. This year for the holidays, the foundation called for volunteers to help shop for member’s wish list at their local Target. Thirteen staff members from Texas Teachers volunteered by shopping for the children of the organization, as well as helping to bag and load the items. This volunteer program continued on through mid-December when they were delivered to schools partnered with Be An Angel in the Houston area. For more information on how to get involved with Be An Angel, visit their website on upcoming events.
For the holidays this year, Texas Teachers is participating in the Holiday Gift Express, which is run by the Houston Area Women’s Center. Their mission is to aid women and children who were effected by domestic violence. In office, Texas Teachers’ staff is collecting items such as toys, new clothing items, toiletries, and gift cards for survivors. Items were collected over a three week period and delivered before Christmas time, when the gifts will be distributed.
Lastly, Texas Teachers cares to reach out and help school districts across the state with providing donations to schools for a variety of purposes. Schools will use these sponsorships to facilitate meetings and training needed to ensure that teachers are getting a more positive and rewarding work experience. In total, Texas Teachers sponsored $161,969 for 2017.
