Can it be that summer has ended so quickly? It feels like just yesterday I was closing out the school year and preparing for the hot months ahead. Now, I am planning syllabi, cleaning up my office, and trying to organize my schedule in what will likely be a very busy election season. I know many families are in the midst of buying back-to-school clothing and supplies, and figuring out school schedules and activities. My dear friends who are teachers are preparing their classrooms for the year ahead. All while the sunny days get shorter and shorter, and summer starts to feel like a distant memory.
One of my favorite things to do at the beginning of the school year is to donate to Donors Choose, an amazing organization where you can help teachers with materials for their classrooms. In an ideal society, teachers would not have to rely on the kindness of strangers to provide supplies for their students. However, we know that far too many schools across the country with a majority population of children of color are under-resourced and over-populated. It is not a coincidence that as the public school system sees increases in Black and Latino students, there is a large-scale disinvestment in the system. Knowing this, I choose to assist Black teachers and schools with large Black and under-represented populations to ensure our children have classrooms that excite and inspire them.
The Donors Choose website is so easy to navigate. I usually choose a teacher with my last name, from my ZIPzip code, or some other fun way to connect. Choosing a random teacher in a small town who happens to share my last name has been a great way to see what teachers outside of New York City are doing with their students. Some teachers need pencils and markers, while others request rugs or other items to help make their classrooms more sensory-pleasant environments. I have helped teachers purchase everything from yoga mats to math workbooks.
I am constantly writing in this column about investing in the future we would like to see. Giving to Donors Choose is just one small way we can make a difference in our own communities or across the country. Being an educator is sometimes a thankless job, but we know the vast majority of teachers are dedicated to their students in ways we can hardly comprehend.
I hope that this school season, you will consider making a donation to www.donorschoose.org to help an educator build the classroom they know will help their students the most effectively. This form of political tithing helps us invest in our communities and create positive rippling effects we’ll never know about. Summer has almost set so let’s get to work, on ourselves and in our various communities.
Christina Greer, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Fordham University; author of “Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream”; and co-host of the podcast FAQ-NYC.