A Gift For Teachers
Today, A Gift For Teaching serves the public schools of Orange and Osceola counties. There are more than 200,000 kids whose families live at or below the poverty line in Central Florida, but the most shocking number is that 17,000 of those students are living in homelessness.
Non-Profit For Our Youth
Picture a child at school trying to write without a pencil, read without books, or dream without the tools to put their ideas onto paper. This is the reality for far too many students in our community. For thousands, these basic learning tools are a luxury. In fact, more than 70% of the students in Central Florida come from families that can’t afford lunch, let alone school supplies.
Moved by this need and the fact that teachers, on average, spend $500 – $1,000 out of their own pockets each year to provide basic supplies for their students, philanthropist and nonprofit professional, Gary Landwirth, founded A Gift For Teaching (AGFT) in 1998.
What will volunteers be doing?
Tasks will vary depending on the day and the type of shift each volunteer is fulfilling. The tasks listed for each shift are general guidelines and may vary according to need. On the volunteer online portal, you will see 4 main roles:
Front Desk Assistant: This position answers phones, monitors the door, greets guests, and helps with various small projects.
Free Store Prep Assistant: This position prepares the Free Teacher Supply for opening by restocking shelves and ensuring product is neat and organized.
Teacher Check-in Assistant: This position welcomes teachers and prepares them to shop by checking them in and answering any questions.
Teacher Shopping Assistant: This position assists teachers while they are shopping, answers questions, and checks them out once they have made their selections.
How can I sign up?
Interested volunteers can go to the volunteer online portal to see all available shifts. You will need to create an account in our volunteer portal to sign-up. If you are interested in scheduling a volunteer group, please email angela@agiftforteaching.org. We can host groups of up to 30 people.
What is the age limit to volunteer?
Volunteers must be at least 12 years of age. Children ages 12-14 require supervision by a parent/guardian. All volunteers under the age of 18 must include a parent or guardian’s signature on their release form. Classroom Spending During the 2019/2020 School Year
Teachers spent an average of $745 on school supplies during the 2019/2020 school year. Most teachers spend their own money on distance learning materials. On average, teachers spent $252 this spring. 45% of teachers said their spending has increased since distance learning began.
“The science says to us that, in fact, the way the brain functions and grows, it needs safety, it needs warmth, it actually even needs hugs,” Stanford professor Linda Darling-Hammond said in a recent interview. “We actually learn in a state of positive emotion much more effectively than we can learn in a state of negative emotion. That has huge implications for what we do in schools.”
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