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This teacher needs your help!

Mr. Okamura from Philadelphia, PA is requesting books through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

See what Mr. Okamura is requesting

Cultivating Literacy and Compassion with Pumpkinheads!

Help me give my students a class set of Rainbow Rowell's Pumpkinheads for the first literature unit of 9th grade English.

  • $1,073 goal

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Hooray! This project is fully funded

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Help Mr. Okamura

Keep the momentum going! Make a donation to Mr. Okamura for his next project!

My Project

In order to learn how to become better readers, writers, and compassionate members of our communities, my students need a class set of Rainbow Rowell's graphic novel, Pumpkinheads, to kick off the school year.

By engaging with Pumpkinheads, students will learn about character development, healthy peer relationships, and how the different events in a story are structured to give meaning to a narrative arc.

Students will then engage in various socratic seminars around what makes friendships work, if the line from a friendship to a romantic partnership should ever be crossed, and how events in a person's life can change a static person into a dynamic one.

My students attend a low-income urban school in Philadelphia and hail from a variety of backgrounds, many of whom will be the first in their families to face the challenges of attending high school, college, and beyond. This first book is designed to get students excited about reading and the rich peer to peer conversations that can flow from a story that is easy to read, but complex enough to have a discussion about. Therefore, this project has two purposes - cultivate a love of reading, and build community at the same time.

Long-term social change is enacted not by catchy political slogans or through committed educators, but through our youth engaging in school, reading cool books, and building a compassionate learning community.

Mr. Okamura Paul Robeson High School - Human Services 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 Mr. Okamura

Philadelphia, PA View local requests

Nearly all 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

90 students impacted 5donors

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
Pumpkinheads • Amazon Business $11.58 75 $868.50

Materials cost

$868.50

Vendor shipping charges

 FREE

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$13.03

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$911.53

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$160.86

Total project goal

$1,072.39

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $1,072.39

4 Donors

-$526.93

Donations toward project cost

-$463.64

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$63.29

match offer

-$526.93

Match offer toward project cost

-$447.89

Match offer to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$79.04

Excluded support for DonorsChoose

-$18.53

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

 $0.00

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

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Project Activity

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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 Mr. Okamura and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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