Colton woman's nonprofit website Donate2Educate raises cash, supplies for schools
Published: Friday, June 18, 2010, 11:07 AM Updated: Friday, June 18, 2010, 11:22 AM
Special to The Oregonian Special to The Oregonian
John Flavin/Special to The OregonianDarleen Vaterlaus of Colton has put in numerous hours and dollars over the past seven years to create a bridge between schools and communities.
As K-12 public education suffers yet another round of cuts, Darleen Vaterlaus of Colton, founder of the website www.donate2educate.org, works to help local communities help their schools.
Since Vaterlaus started her nonprofit site in 2003, she and its board, along with 40 volunteers, have been responsible for injecting more than $300,000 into Oregon schools. She is aiming to raise more than $400,000 by the end of 2010.
Once a school signs up with Vaterlaus, teachers at that school can then post their needs on the website -- recent requests include Spanish dictionaries, first aid kits, calculators, paper, playground equipment and supermarket gift cards to buy healthy snacks for students who arrive at school without having had breakfast.
Roger Rada, superintendent of the Oregon City School District, said, "Donate2Educate allows teachers to easily submit their classroom requests online, allowing funds to flow directly into our classrooms."
Visitors to the site can either make donations with their credit cards or deliver their donations directly to schools. In Vaterlaus' words, the website is "a communication and funding bridge between the classroom and community."
"This is about the community," said Vaterlaus. "It's that whole 'it takes a village' mentality."
She said 51 percent of teachers' requests are being fulfilled, up from 40 percent last year.
About 80 percent of donations are delivered directly to the schools. "That's a huge thing for people to understand," Vaterlaus said, because that erases donors' doubt that their gifts will be lost in administrative costs or diverted in some way.
Teresa Lewis, a teacher at Eagle Creek Elementary School, said she recently received money to buy prizes so she could reward students for their efforts in reading. "I am pleased to say that the help of Estacada Community Foundation and Donate2Educate is making a difference in children's lives," Lewis said.
Vaterlaus is not collecting administrative fees or taking a salary. "Volunteerism runs this program," she said. She runs the website because she wants to make a difference. Vaterlaus, 45, attended Oregon schools and has two children who graduated from Colton High School and are attending Oregon universities.
Vaterlaus said 25 Clackamas County schools are participating in Donate2Educate, along with six elsewhere in the state; six more are awaiting approval. By the end of 2010, she hopes to add 70 more schools. She and the board plan to pursue grant and sponsorship funding, with the goals of hiring a small staff, leasing office space and eventually getting participation from every district in the state.
"If someone makes a donation to a teacher, it does more than provide an item or activity for a classroom," Vaterlaus said. "It reminds teachers that the community cares. I've had teachers say to me, 'I didn't know that anyone cared.' "
-- John Flavin
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Tuesday, June 22, 2010
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ksl.com - Read Today: Getting boys interested in reading
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Abdo publishing specializes in K-12 Non-Fiction and Fiction materials. Go to www.abdopub.com to view books or call me for a free sample showing of all of ABDO new releases. I'll be happy to go through them with you one by one so you can hand pick the best books for your library!
Looking forward to meeting you!
Take Care,
Kim Paul
801-603-6570
Abdo publishing specializes in K-12 Non-Fiction and Fiction materials. Go to www.abdopub.com to view books or call me for a free sample showing of all of ABDO new releases. I'll be happy to go through them with you one by one so you can hand pick the best books for your library!
Looking forward to meeting you!
Take Care,
Kim Paul
801-603-6570
Local Libraries are lending more than Books!
Local libraries are lending more than books
Elisabeth Archer, Staff Writer Fox 13 News
3:31 PM MDT, June 18, 2010
Local libraries are lending more than books
UTAH - If you are pinching pennies and in need of a summer vacation, your local library may have the answer. Most libraries in the state have received at least one state parks pass, and are lending them out for free.
Last year passes were checked out more than 1,200 times. Pass holders will also receive $2 off camping fees, excluding holidays.
Libraries that are currently lending the park passes are Spanish Fork, Pleasant Grove, Payson, Eagle Mountain, Springville, Highland, Orem, American Fork, Salem, Mapleton and Utah County Bookmobile.
For more information about the program e-mail: rockin@utah.gov or call (801) 537-3123.
Elisabeth Archer, Staff Writer Fox 13 News
3:31 PM MDT, June 18, 2010
Local libraries are lending more than books
UTAH - If you are pinching pennies and in need of a summer vacation, your local library may have the answer. Most libraries in the state have received at least one state parks pass, and are lending them out for free.
Last year passes were checked out more than 1,200 times. Pass holders will also receive $2 off camping fees, excluding holidays.
Libraries that are currently lending the park passes are Spanish Fork, Pleasant Grove, Payson, Eagle Mountain, Springville, Highland, Orem, American Fork, Salem, Mapleton and Utah County Bookmobile.
For more information about the program e-mail: rockin@utah.gov or call (801) 537-3123.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Feds require seven troubled schools to replace principals to receive grants Federal dollars » Schools get money to transform
Feds require seven troubled schools to replace principals to receive grants
Federal dollars » Schools get money to transform
By Lisa Schencker
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 06/10/2010 08:11:28 PM MDT
Seven low-performing Utah schools are about to undergo dramatic changes as recipients of about $13 million in federal cash.
The feds hope the School Improvement Grants lead to real changes in the schools. Some educators, however, have mixed feelings about making such dramatic moves.
The grants require the seven schools to replace their principals. The schools also must increase learning time for kids, use educator evaluations that take student data into account, provide additional teacher training, reward educators who improve student achievement and remove those who ultimately don't after receiving additional support, among other things.
Grant recipients include: Dee, James A. Madison and Odyssey elementary schools in Ogden; Northwest and Glendale middle schools in Salt Lake City; Granger High in West Valley City; and Bluff Elementary in the San Juan School District.
The new grant offers a type of federal money to schools that might not have been eligible for that money in the past, and it offers them relatively large amounts over three years to help them turn around their performances.
"It's not just throwing a little bit of money at a problem and saying this is a Band-Aid," said Ann White, Title 1 coordinator at the State Office of Education. "It's expensive to do the kind of reform they're being asked to do and it's going to take a lot of effort on behalf of everyone on the staff and at the district level."
Many
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educators say they are excited to get the money and make the changes, but some are also nervous about what the changes will mean.
"I think there are some people who are excited, some people who are overwhelmed, and some people who want to move out of the schools because of the extended time commitment," said Virginia Ellison, president of the Salt Lake Teachers Association. "The feelings are all mixed and all for different reasons."
Salt Lake's plan for Northwest and Glendale lengthens the school day and the year for students, asks teachers to stay for 45 minutes after school each day for meeting and/or training, and will mean bonuses of up to 18 percent of their base pay for some educators for meeting student achievement goals. The district will also, however, transfer teachers who have not, over a period of several years, improved their students' proficiency in math and language arts. Teachers may also request transfers in or out of the schools over the next two years.
"It's actually kind of exciting and scary at the same time," said Linda Stout, an eighth-grade history teacher at Northwest.
The principals of both Salt Lake schools will be replaced, and it has not yet been decided where they will go next school year, said Jason Olsen, district spokesman.
The Ogden district is transferring a number of its principals across the district to help move the principals at its three schools receiving grant money, but no principal will be out of a job, said Rich Moore with the Ogden district.
The district plans to use the money at the three elementary schools to provide additional coaching for teachers and administrators, provide extended-year and extended-day options for students and pay teachers bonuses for helping their classes make at least one year of academic growth, among other things.
In the Granite district, Granger High will use the money to offer an after-school program for academically at-risk students, hire more math and language arts teachers and provide more support to sophomores to help them better transition to high school, among other things, said Rob Averett, Granite Title 1 director. Jerry Haslam, Taylorsville High principal and recent Huntsman Award for Excellence in Education winner, will take the reins from Arthur Cox, who was retiring as Granger principal in June anyway.
In the San Juan School District, the 76-student Bluff Elementary also will offer more training for educators, try to hire a full-time instructional coach, and pay teachers up to $5,600 more a year for boosting student achievement and other improvements. Lynnette Johnson, student services director for San Juan, said the grant comes at an ideal time considering the principal was leaving anyway at the end of this school year along with about half of the school's teachers.
"We went from a small school that was making some progress with a principal and stable staff to a school that needed some transformation," Johnson said.
A State Office of Education-organized review panel selected the four school districts to receive the money from a pool of seven districts and charter schools that applied. Twenty Utah districts and charters were eligible to apply.
To apply for the cash, districts had to choose one of four models to turn around their schools: replace their principals and half their teachers; convert into charter schools; close their doors; or replace the principal and improve the school through curriculum reform, training for educators, extending learning time and other strategies.
All seven schools' will use the fourth option, also known as the transformational model, to improve their schools.
"The transformational model makes a lot of sense because it not only does replace the leadership, but it has a lot to do with learning," White said.
Federal dollars » Schools get money to transform
By Lisa Schencker
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 06/10/2010 08:11:28 PM MDT
Seven low-performing Utah schools are about to undergo dramatic changes as recipients of about $13 million in federal cash.
The feds hope the School Improvement Grants lead to real changes in the schools. Some educators, however, have mixed feelings about making such dramatic moves.
The grants require the seven schools to replace their principals. The schools also must increase learning time for kids, use educator evaluations that take student data into account, provide additional teacher training, reward educators who improve student achievement and remove those who ultimately don't after receiving additional support, among other things.
Grant recipients include: Dee, James A. Madison and Odyssey elementary schools in Ogden; Northwest and Glendale middle schools in Salt Lake City; Granger High in West Valley City; and Bluff Elementary in the San Juan School District.
The new grant offers a type of federal money to schools that might not have been eligible for that money in the past, and it offers them relatively large amounts over three years to help them turn around their performances.
"It's not just throwing a little bit of money at a problem and saying this is a Band-Aid," said Ann White, Title 1 coordinator at the State Office of Education. "It's expensive to do the kind of reform they're being asked to do and it's going to take a lot of effort on behalf of everyone on the staff and at the district level."
Many
Advertisement
Click here to find out more! Quantcast
educators say they are excited to get the money and make the changes, but some are also nervous about what the changes will mean.
"I think there are some people who are excited, some people who are overwhelmed, and some people who want to move out of the schools because of the extended time commitment," said Virginia Ellison, president of the Salt Lake Teachers Association. "The feelings are all mixed and all for different reasons."
Salt Lake's plan for Northwest and Glendale lengthens the school day and the year for students, asks teachers to stay for 45 minutes after school each day for meeting and/or training, and will mean bonuses of up to 18 percent of their base pay for some educators for meeting student achievement goals. The district will also, however, transfer teachers who have not, over a period of several years, improved their students' proficiency in math and language arts. Teachers may also request transfers in or out of the schools over the next two years.
"It's actually kind of exciting and scary at the same time," said Linda Stout, an eighth-grade history teacher at Northwest.
The principals of both Salt Lake schools will be replaced, and it has not yet been decided where they will go next school year, said Jason Olsen, district spokesman.
The Ogden district is transferring a number of its principals across the district to help move the principals at its three schools receiving grant money, but no principal will be out of a job, said Rich Moore with the Ogden district.
The district plans to use the money at the three elementary schools to provide additional coaching for teachers and administrators, provide extended-year and extended-day options for students and pay teachers bonuses for helping their classes make at least one year of academic growth, among other things.
In the Granite district, Granger High will use the money to offer an after-school program for academically at-risk students, hire more math and language arts teachers and provide more support to sophomores to help them better transition to high school, among other things, said Rob Averett, Granite Title 1 director. Jerry Haslam, Taylorsville High principal and recent Huntsman Award for Excellence in Education winner, will take the reins from Arthur Cox, who was retiring as Granger principal in June anyway.
In the San Juan School District, the 76-student Bluff Elementary also will offer more training for educators, try to hire a full-time instructional coach, and pay teachers up to $5,600 more a year for boosting student achievement and other improvements. Lynnette Johnson, student services director for San Juan, said the grant comes at an ideal time considering the principal was leaving anyway at the end of this school year along with about half of the school's teachers.
"We went from a small school that was making some progress with a principal and stable staff to a school that needed some transformation," Johnson said.
A State Office of Education-organized review panel selected the four school districts to receive the money from a pool of seven districts and charter schools that applied. Twenty Utah districts and charters were eligible to apply.
To apply for the cash, districts had to choose one of four models to turn around their schools: replace their principals and half their teachers; convert into charter schools; close their doors; or replace the principal and improve the school through curriculum reform, training for educators, extending learning time and other strategies.
All seven schools' will use the fourth option, also known as the transformational model, to improve their schools.
"The transformational model makes a lot of sense because it not only does replace the leadership, but it has a lot to do with learning," White said.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
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