How do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time!

Okay, so it’s a childhood joke, but it relates to how to achieve the items on the school district’s wish list.

As the Business Partners & Community Supporters program was introduced to district administrators in October, each was asked to think about items essential to educational basics that we needed.

I learned that we need help purchasing books for our readers that excel and our under-developed readers. (Probably not the technical terms educators use, but what I as a parent understood.) Students at both ends of the spectrum are challenged with reading for course work when it is too simple (not challenging) and too difficult. Yet we can’t afford enough materials for those groups – we tend to provide to the middle of the bell curve. Could we ask supporters to specify books be purchased with their donation?

An open house proved to be an eye-opener. The English teacher matter-of-factly mentioned the textbooks under the chair are what our students would use. Questions from the parents led to the entire picture. There aren’t enough textbooks for each student to have one, they use the books in class, then leave them for the next class to use.

Before Thanksgiving my youngest casually mentioned during dinner one evening that not all the kids have calculators in math class. ‘So what do they do to get their work done?’ I tried to ask casually, without alarm. Students were sharing. Yes, sharing is a worthy attribute, but it makes getting class work done a challenge. Within the week I had received a request from the middle school math teachers for 60 calculators (just 10 for each classroom).

Well one bite at a time, we are heading towards success. Today a local business committed to a donation that will get almost 50 calculators! A wish nearly fulfilled for the math teachers and students.

Let’s see what we can do with the rest of the elephant!