Bryce, Joey, and William are all upperclassmen athletes at our school. Baseball is something of a secondary concern within our athletic department. However, these boys have been integral in promoting the program and we need to upgrade equipment due to the steady increase of interest in the sport.
Being a small, rural school, finding creative means of funding is a necessity. Earlier in the school year, we used donations from DonorsChoose.org to purchase equipment for our boys' and girls' basketball programs. Having seen the success of this project, the students approached me about the opportunity of applying this resource toward the funding of new baseball equipment. Upon receiving approval, Bryce, Joey, and William collaborated on a list of fundamental equipment that our program is in need of but lacks the funds to acquire. After a substantial brainstorming session, the boys submitted their ideas to me.
Working on this project allows students the chance to collaborate with others and take the initiative for making change happen. The donated materials will not only benefit them but also our entire community as the facilities are utilized by local little league baseball teams, as well. Allowing students the opportunity to reach out into the community and improve it instills a sense of hometown pride and stewardship. Through involvement in sports, students learn from one another and the real life experiences they have both on and off the field. They also learn about the importance of time management as they learn to juggle their academic workload with the rigorous practice and game schedule.
In Their Own Words
Our goal is to improve the equipment for our baseball team. We are a small town and do not have a lot of funding. Within our athletic program, baseball is normally the last sport that receives upgraded equipment. We have been playing with old equipment for years and would like to have some of the same upgraded equipment as the other schools we play. Practice is difficult when we do not have enough good practice balls for everyone and we only have one good team bat that was donated last year.
We plan on creating posters and flyers and displaying them around school for everyone to see. We are also going to share our DonorsChoose.org link on social media and share it with friends and family in order to spread the word.
This project is important to our school and community because we do not have many resources to invest into our program and every little thing will help us. Our project will solve the problem of coming up with the money to upgrade all of our equipment. It will also benefit all of our local little league teams who use our facilities. Helping us improve our program will promote a sense of pride in our school and community.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Miller and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
