Support MacFarland Middle School In Washington, DC

When Waiting For Superman came out in the fall of 2010, I was nervous as much as I was excited. While the movie sparked a long overdue conversation about the cracks and crevices of American K-12 education, I knew it was doing so by highlighting the very school district where I teach, DC Public Schools. While some people might imagine schools to be top-of-the-line here in DC simply because we’re the nation’s capitol, the truth is that for some time now we’ve been struggling to overcome dangerously low math & reading achievement levels (as highlighted in the movie).

What’s hardest perhaps is teaching in a school that has exemplified that in recent years. For instance, the year before I got here it was said that the Principal left mid-year out of stress and the following year, the staff was all clean out but for three individuals. Naturally, some of those disheartening remnants carried on to my first year of teaching. Suffice it to say many wrestled with the question, “Should I stay?”

Yet, this year has been completely different. We’ve had great leadership, a dedicated team of teachers to work with and we’re desperately trying hard to overcome whatever cracks there in school culture, academic instruction, and the ever-disheartening lack of financial resources.

Which is why I’m writing now. Some of us at the school gathered to craft a proposal for Pepsi’s Refresh Everything contest to win $50,000 for a brand new mobile learning lab. Our school’s computers are old, outdated, and all of them have missing keys. One screen just inkblotted in the middle of class one day. And while our district and city has been working around the clock to find appropriations for this issue, it’s hard to work around this issue when your school has to cut over $700,000. Instead of just sitting around, we decided we’d help out.

Here’s the bottom line: we win by getting votes.

More specifically, if we get in the top 10 of contestants, we win. But…. we need votes.

Our entry can be seen at: www.refresheverything.com/macfarlandmobile

Here’s three ways friends of MacFarland can vote EVERYDAY DURING JUNE:

Thanks so much for looking out for my school.

1. Text “107022″ to 73774 (NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED)

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