Chive Charities + #ThankATeacher

Chive Charities is celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week by thanking one of the many teacher/heroes in our own backyard.

Meet Ginger Quiroga.

She was destined to teach from an early age. "I planned on becoming a teacher from my earliest years when I used to run a 'summer school' in my neighborhood with the younger children."

For eleven years, she taught at an American school in La Paz, Bolivia. For the last five years, she has taught in Austin, Texas and is currently a Kindergarten teacher. The district Ms. Quiroga teaches in is 87% economically disadvantaged. Many of her students live below the poverty line. She is one of the two bilingual Kindergarten teachers -- which means she teaches literacy and math in Spanish (so whereas some teachers only need books in one language, Ms. Quiroga needs books in English AND Spanish.)

The love Ginger has for her students and for teaching is contagious.

"My favorite thing about teaching my kids is learning their family values. The parents are very involved in their children’s lives and they have made them a priority. They try to help their children in any way, even though they themselves may not have had the educational experience that their children are having."

We asked Ms. Quiroga to explain her biggest challenge in the classroom. Here's what she said:

"My biggest challenge is the lack of bilingual materials. I spend most of my time researching and buying what I will need for each new theme I teach. My dream is to have a classroom library and a lending library for kids to take books home. In Kindergarten the kids are taking off in reading and are so passionate about reading but I don't have enough books!"

Can you imagine a more deserving teacher? Help us show Ginger our appreciation by sharing & donating to our #ThankATeacher campaign.

Let's make Ginger's dream come true and raise the funds needed to build her classroom library!