My students need to see themselves reflected in the books offered by our school library.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Conover's classroom raised $977
This project is fully funded
My Students
This year, I started the first GSA (Gender-Sexuality Alliance) at my middle school in South Brooklyn. I wasn't sure that any students would be interested, since my school is located in a very conservative area. To my surprise, over 30 students came to the first meeting!
These 7th graders are bright, inquisitive, accepting, and hopeful.
They came to the first meeting with many ideas about how to improve our school community by making sure all students feel safe in the classroom and hallways, regardless of race, sexuality, gender expression, gender identity, immigrant status, religion, and ability. Every week, they come to meetings with ideas about how to make the school a safer place for all students- so far, they have organized a "no name calling week," created artwork and posters about accepting LGBT+ students, organized "no one eats alone" day in the lunchroom, read books about acceptance and diversity to elementary school students, and delivered a presentation to teachers and staff about creating LGBT inclusive lessons.
My Project
Young readers develop a love of books when they are able to enter the world of the characters they are reading about. LGBT youth deserve to see themselves and their lives reflected in the stories they are reading as well.
I want to create an LGBT friendly section of my middle school library in order to normalize LGBT stories and to make LGBT students feel seen, accepted, and safe in their school environment.
The LGBT youth organization GLSEN reports that nearly 4 in 5 LGBT students don't see positive LGBT representation in their curriculum, nearly 9 in 10 experience verbal harassment, and almost a third miss school for feeling unsafe or uncomfortable. Creating this library will be a step in the right direction to create a better school environment for my students. I have used the NYC Department of Education Library Guide (http://nycdoe.libguides.com/nyc-ccd/lgbtq) in order to select LGBT friendly books that will engage students of all identities and interests.
More than half 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
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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 Ms. Conover and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
