Books for Mr. Thompson's students

3rd update:

I’d just like to thank TMJ4 for highlighting this campaign for books for my kids. It was on the news at 10 last night, and if you missed it, you can watch it at https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/fifth-grade-teacher-in-racine-raising-money-to-buy-books-for-students. 

And thank you, everyone who has donated. This is an incredible thing you’re doing for my kids, and potentially the entire fifth grade at Fratt Elementary. 

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2nd Update: 

 Realizing my GoFundMe may get more exposure and funds than I originally planned, depending on how much it ends up getting, I also would like to have my class donate some of the funds above what I asked for to the other fifth-grade classrooms in my building too. 

 I think that would be a wonderful way to show them how to give back when they receive so generously and to share resources.

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UPDATE:

First of all, thank you to every single one of you for donating. Each dollar, believe it or not, will help make a positive change in a student’s life — which is no small thing. 

Secondly, this has been so successful (hitting my first $500 goal quite easily) that I’ve been encouraged to and have decided to expand it to $1,000 for books/classroom materials for my students to keep. 

I’ll leave this donation page open throughout the year. That way, if you can’t donate now, but want to, you can always do so later. 

Also, if donating financially isn’t an option, I’d simply ask you, if you have children, to make it a priority to read with them. 

Not only does it offer time for you to simply spend with them, but it really does make a great difference in their development for the better. 

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Hello my friends,

As many of you who know me are aware, this fall I will be officially starting my career as an elementary teacher — teaching fifth grade at Fratt Elementary in Racine.

While this is exciting, it also means that I will most likely have around 20 students to get to know, to encourage, to care about and to help grow throughout the school year.

With that said, I am opening up this GoFundMe page to ask for assistance in one area I’ve found to be supremely important in fostering kids’ growth: a wide variety of books.

I know that some of my students will be stellar readers. However, a few of my friends will still be struggling to get their reading skills up to grade level.

Part of my focus will be trying to ensure that ALL of my students make progress in this category, as it is one area that has an impact on all of their coursework.

As the grandson of someone who was illiterate, it is also my mission to ensure that my students do not have to face a world that they can’t understand, a world that they feel lost in because they don’t have the reading skills they need to make their own way in it.

This will take several rounds of buying books and adjusting for different students’ interests, reading levels and finding what texts each student connects with so that they can develop a love for expanding their minds instead of boredom and resentment over being forced to read things that simply do not interest them.

Therefore, if you would like to contribute to my funds to buy books for my students this year, not only will you be helping a teacher, but you will also be making a difference in a kid’s life — as quite a few of the students I know do not have many books at home.

Even if this GoFundMe gets no money, I will spend my own money to make sure the kids have what they need and will do my best to get all the materials they need to be successful.

That’s my job, and I will make sure I get it done no matter what. So rest assured, I will not let any of my kids go without something they can enjoy reading.

I just thought I’d open it up to anyone who wanted to donate to the cause.

My goal is set right now at $500. That amount should allow me to get at least two books for each of the students I will have this year.

All funds collected here will be used for classroom materials.

Thank you for taking the time to check this page out, and please, donate a little bit if you can and help spread the word.