For teacher appreciation week, we want to recognize how far teachers go in order to support the needs of each of their students and to ensure they offer the best possible educational experience – through any means they can.
This past holiday season, Amplified IT decided to give the gift of education and opportunity. Each of the 27 Amplified IT team members was given a $1,000 credit to DonorsChoose.org to help support classroom projects that inspire us. DonorsChoose.org provides a platform for public school teachers from across the U.S. to create classroom project requests to support the learning initiatives of their students. It was started by a teacher in 2000 who recognized the need to provide a way for teachers to get much-needed resources to a classroom in need.
As an EDU-specific technical consultancy for Google for Education, providing resources to a classroom in need is a gift that is near and dear to all of our hearts. Each Amplified IT team member is getting an opportunity to directly touch the lives of the students in those same schools that we have the opportunity to work with on a daily basis.
To date, we have allocated donations to over 144 projects impacting over 13,000 students in over 30 states across the U.S. We are excited to be supporting initiatives that range from flexible seating, 3D Pens, and wheelchair accessibility ramps for schoolyard gardens, to basic supplies, computers, and VR headsets to allow students to explore far-away lands from their classroom seat. As our team works to fund the initiatives passionate to them, we have also begun to truly see the impact of our donations through teacher appreciation letters and beautiful hand-made letters from the students we aimed to support.
Ryan,
Your generosity truly warms my heart. You have enabled my low vision and blind students to learn more with hands-on materials. For Math, they cut out pieces of textured paper in shapes and made math sentences with them. For Reading, they are going to make a small art project as we finish each story in Braille. In addition, some of the low vision students are using pens and markers instead of pencils so they may see what they have written.
The students were ecstatic when they first saw the materials. It meant a lot to them to know that someone cares enough to help them do their work more efficiently. One child kissed the box before it was even opened.
The kindness of this project was a lesson in itself. Long after the pens, markers and textured materials have been used, each child will probably remember this kindness and pass it forward. We discussed other ways to be kind as a result.
Have a wonderful day!
With gratitude,
Ms. Smith
Amplified IT,
Thank you so very much for your generosity. Most of the students and parents in our school community are struggling to make ends meet, therefore most of these families have only the bare essentials and lack experiences with technology at home. The use of the computer and other materials donated provide my students with an opportunity to actively engage in their learning in a fun and interactive way. By engaging in research projects while using the computer, my students are motivated and empowered with the necessary tools to achieve their learning goals. By using a computer within collaborative groups and engaging in higher order inquiry-based experiences, my students feel accomplished and take ownership of their learning. Thank you for making our goals attainable.
With gratitude,
Mrs. Rodriguez
While a lot of the focus of Amplified IT’s values are related to innovating, creating scalable services and products and mastery, having a big impact, looking after family and empowering others are woven throughout. We embrace the reality that being able to acknowledge and give back to teachers (our extended family) ultimately leads us to a bigger impact.
Amplified IT thanks every single teacher who goes out of their way to provide an enriched and invaluable learning experience to their students. You are the reason we do what we do – we see you and support you. #TeacherAppreciation
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Paul Rice
Events Coordinator & Community Engagement -
About the Author:
Paul Rice joined Amplified IT after working on Capitol Hill and at a regional startup incubator. At Amplified IT, Paul focuses on building communities through in-person events and our online Google Technical Collaborative as well as leading community engagement locally.