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This teacher needs your help!

Ms. Spitz from Brooklyn, NY is requesting books through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

See what Ms. Spitz is requesting

Be the Help We Need to read The Help in Book Clubs!

My students need 22 copies of the historically engaging novel, The Help.

  • $359 goal

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Hooray! This project is fully funded

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Help Ms. Spitz

My Students

I'm on a mission: a mission to create a history class that is rich with perspective, inquiry and engagement. I too often see my high school students quick to label the subject "old," "boring," and completely insignificant to their own world and to their own lives.

My students are bright, imaginative, and inquisitive.

Each day I see countless examples of their love for learning and genuine desire to be challenged and inspired. As a music and arts school, we pride ourselves on the levels of creativity and individuality embraced by our students inside and outside the classroom walls. My students are predominantly African-American and Latino, and they come from some of the most violent and impoverished neighborhoods in our state. They are exceptionally brave in expressing themselves and communicating an idea, yet many of them struggle when it comes to broaching written text. Many of my students were not exposed to reading on a consistent basis during crucial years of their formative development and as such, many need intensive work to repair literacy deficits stemming from their early years. In my 11th grade classroom, my students' reading levels range from 3rd grade to college level, with an average reading level at around the 7th grade.

My Project

As a history teacher, I am constantly seeking avenues to further engage my students in the contextual elements of our class. Equally as important, I am always searching for ways to continue to build the literacy skills of my students so that they are equipped for success inside and outside the academic realms. To do so, my students need to feel invested in their work, and they need to feel their work is invested in them. My students deserve more than a simple fact sheet to understand history and the human experience. As such, I have requested a class set of the novel "The Help" to use in our class book clubs for our unit on the Civil Rights Movement and the American identity. Providing my students with books rich with human emotion and connections will open the door towards learning patterns that will help them become stronger readers and writers. Ultimately, these reading experiences will help my students navigate our already complex world with an empowered perspective.

Book clubs are a fantastic way to engage and challenge the wide range of readers in my classroom and push my students toward a deeper understanding and personal connection to history and the written word.

Such skills will prove priceless in ensuring their success for state exams, graduation, college and beyond. I strongly believe that if given a book that fits, all of my students have the capacity to approach learning with the voracity and courage they so strongly possess and desire.

Ms. Spitz Urban Assembly School Music & Art Grades 9-12

Celebrate Black teachers and kids! This project supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of students are Black.

Equity Focus

This project directly supports students at a historically underfunded school. Learn more about our Equity Focus.

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

More about Ms. Spitz

Brooklyn, NY View local requests

More than three‑quarters of students from low‑income households Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more

100 students impacted 2donors

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Expand the "Where your donation goes" section below to see exactly what Ms. Spitz is requesting.

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
The Help Kathryn Stockett • AKJ BOOKS $12.08 22 $265.76

Materials cost

$265.76

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$3.99

Fulfillment labor & materials

$35.00

Total project cost

$304.75

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$53.78

Total project goal

$358.53

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $358.53

1 Donor

-$96.00

Donations toward project cost

-$81.60

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$14.40

match offer

-$262.53

Match offer toward project cost

-$223.15

Match offer to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$39.38

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

 $0.00

Our team works hard to negotiate the best pricing and selections available.

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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 Ms. Spitz and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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