A teacher's budget

As I go into my fourth year of teaching, now, more than ever, I want to make sure that I am able to provide my students with everything they need to get a quality education. The more I teach, the more I realize that being able to give my students this kind of education is about a lot more than just a curriculum - it is about being able to create an environment of knowledge and possibility. I want my students to have access to the kind of education that will inspire them, that will help them to see the myriad of possibilities that await them; and I just cannot do this on my own. 

While this may seem like a lot of money, spread out over the nine months, it comes out to about $330/month - money that will go to the following: 

- Mock Trial Expenses - from getting my students formal wear to traveling to and from the competition, Mock Trial is expensive! As mentioned below, I also get sweatshirts made for the team after the competition as a way of rewarding those students who dedicated their time and energy towards this endeavor. 

- Bi-monthly Field trips (Weeksville Heritage Museum - $105, Lewis Howard Latimer House Museum - $150, 826NYC Writing workshop - $150, New York Aquarium - $200, Center for Architecture - $300)
I find that field trips are incredibly important for my students, as many of them have never even left Brooklyn. I want to be able to take them on field trips to places, and not have to pick the places because they are free for us to go. 

- School supplies (mechanical pencils, pens, erasers, highlighters, notebooks, binders, folders, pencil cases, index cards, loose leaf, printer paper, printer ink, laminating sheets, misc. art supplies, poster boards)
I have found that having nice school supplies makes such a difference for my students who do not usually go back-to-school shopping. They enjoy completing their work if offered something as simple as a mechanical pencil or different colored highlighters. 

- Literature (Night by Elie Wiesel 20 books - $120, classroom library books, magazine subscriptions, comic books, newspaper subscriptions, any and all literature!)
It is crucial for my students to understand that reading is not their enemy. In order to do this, I want to provide my students with a wide variety of texts that introduce them to just how valuable, and enjoyable, reading is. For the holidays, I always buy each of my students any book that they want to encourage reading, and this would help me to do that, and to just generally inspire a love of reading.  

- Food (class parties, breakfast bars, bottles of water, gummy snacks, fruits, after-school snack, ingredients for simple, healthy snacks) 
Generally speaking my students eat terribly, which contributes to poor performance in school. With these funds, I could make sure that my classroom is stocked with the proper brain food for my students. 

Last year, I worked with my students on the Mock Trial team and got them all sweatshirts with a logo and their name - and every single one of them wore it every single day. I want to be able to do more little things like this for my students to show them what an education can be like. I want them to have access to the same quality of education that I received, but I need help to do it. Any amount helps, and if you would rather purchase and donate specific items that would be wonderful as well! Thank you for all your help and I cannot wait to see what this year holds for us. 

Best, 

Olivia Sapin