Dear family, friends and supporters,

Our 7th grade team of teachers and leaders has been tasked with educating an extraordinary group of 7th grade middle school students here at Empower Upper Charter School in Brooklyn, NY. This group of students is extremely resilient and intelligent, and is the byproduct of remote learning in their most formative years of social and educational development. Despite obstacles forged before them, these 7th graders approach adversity head-on and without making excuses. We hope to enhance and build on their social, emotional and academic progress, by doing something extraordinary: taking them on a multi-day overnight trip to Washington DC.

Despite multiple intra-school and inter-school fundraisers held by students and staff, and cutting activities from our budget and assistance from our network, we are still short of our goal for this end-of-year trip. The money we are currently seeking will ensure that our students can travel safely while in Washington DC and have proper meals for the duration of our stay.

We hope this end-of-year trip will accomplish multiple objectives: a celebration of our students’ academic achievement, an opportunity for our kids to travel and explore our nation’s capital, and their continued social, emotional and intellectual growth as students. We would not take on this responsibility and endeavor without students showing a level of maturity, responsibility and intelligence and a capability of traveling to another city without the guidance of their families.

We are deeply grateful for any support you can provide. Thank you for helping us to make a difference in the lives of our students and our community.

Sincerely,

7th Grade team at Empower Upper Charter School