Local teachers in need get big boost from Google, crowdfunding site

Some local teachers who commonly dig into their own pockets to help provide supplies for their classrooms are getting a big boost from Google.

The tech company announced Monday it would donate $338,542 to fund nearly 300 requests from teachers in King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties on the crowdfunding site DonorsChoose.org.

“On average teachers across the country are spending about $500 of their own money every year on classroom supplies,” says Chris Pearsall, a spokesman for the organization.

Amanda Burke is one of them.

“There’s just a never-ending need, it feels like, for things that you want your students to have so they can be successful,” says Burke, a kindergarten teacher at West Seattle’s Highland Park Elementary.

With DonorsChoose, teacher post projects requesting materials they need for their classrooms. They can be everything from paper and pencils to laptops, musical instruments and microscopes.

Burke requested books to start a library for the kids in her class, many of whom are from very low income homes.

“A lot of my kids, every year and this year, they don’t have books at home. The need for books they can take home is so crucial,” she says.

Google’s donation will fund 388 classroom requests overall, every one of the local projects on the site. Burke says the supplies will quickly get used up and the need won’t go away any time soon. She expects to dig back into her own bank account to continue paying for things.

“I do it because I love the kids and I love seeing them light up when they learn something new. It really is just about getting the kids what they need so they can be successful.”

With the help of Google and others supporting projects on DonorsChoose, she says she’s optimistic for the future.

“It was just a really touching day for us to be able to see that, ‘Wow,’ there are these people out there that care about us and want us to succeed and go further in our lives.”

Pearsall says last year alone, donors funded over 1,100 projects for 634 local teachers on the site.

“A lot of classrooms are lacking some of those essential supplies like paper and pencils and crayons and then there’s some other teachers that are getting creative and bringing gardens to their classrooms, or using tablets and laptops in ways that are just not supported by the school budget,” he says.

Prior to Monday’s “flash funding,” Google made similar donations to campaigns in San Francisco, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Austin, Kansas City, and Los Angeles.