My name is Helena Rodriguez, and I am a parent and a teacher at Coyote Hills Elementary in Newark, CA fundraising on behalf of our parents and students. Returning to in-person learning this year, I was hopeful that my 6th grader would attend science camp this year, as this has been a tradition for 6th graders in Newark. Unfortunately, when our staff assessed the enormous funding needs, families were told science camp would not happen this year.

 

Being a newly-named, merged school with DOUBLE the number of students now, we are faced with the challenge to raise a large amount of money in a short amount of time to make science camp a reality for our students. To give you an idea, we have 170 students, and it is approximately $300 per student. We are a Title 1 school meaning that more than 40% of our population is from low-income households, so many cannot afford such a cost.

 

Our goal is to raise enough money to make it possible to have all our students attend in the spring and give them the experience that every student deserves. The effects of what happens when an idea, an opportunity, or dream is deferred because of a lack of funding can be devastating. Therefore, we are humbly coming to you in hopes that you can help make our dream come true!