Post from Community: Teach for America Milwaukee hosts teacher and student supply drive for virtual schooling | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Teach For America Milwaukee
July 22, 2020
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Back-to-school supplies take on a whole new meaning for the families of students who will now face virtual classrooms. Many items that were traditionally provided by the school and resided in each physical classroom will now need to be in every home, along with a host of other items are necessary for this new, virtual learning style.
Teach For America Milwaukee is currently accepting new, unopened school supplies to help support students in Milwaukee. The group also accepts monetary donations to purchase to purchase the items below. The drive runs from Monday, July 27 to Friday, September 11, 2020.
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In addition to supporting students, Teach For America Milwaukee is working to provide 50 first and second-year teachers with the Essential Virtual Teacher Toolkit. Teachers face challenges similar to their students in converting their practice to online vehicles. Teachers need audio and video technology like webcams and headset microphones to connect with students and create a sense of classroom normalcy. Additionally, teachers support those students who cannot print at home by providing course packs and materials. While working from their home, many teachers need dry erase boards and ergonomic mouse and keyboard support to help them mirror the practice they had in the classroom.
The Essential Virtual Teacher Toolkit includes items to help support teachers’ virtual challenges and Teach for America Milwaukee will accept donation items to support these kits as well.
Basics the group is collecting for students include:
Additionally, Teach For America Milwaukee has identified these essential items to support students’ at-home, virtual learning:
Items Teach for America Milwaukee is collecting to support teachers include
Individuals can support this important initiative by donating to the drive themselves, hosting a supply drive with friends and sharing this information through social media and word of mouth.  Teach For America Milwaukee is also looking for corporations to support the initiative by hosting drives and/or donating their corporate supplies that are not currently being used due to work-at-home conditions.
Donations can be mailed or dropped off in the collection box outside the TFA Milwaukee Office (below address).  The office building is open Monday-Saturday from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The collection box is located directly outside office #610.
Mail donations to:
Teach For America Milwaukee – School Supply Drive
700 West Virginia Street, #610
Milwaukee, WI 53204
The group can also pick up items at a time and place of your convenience. For more information please call Jenny Gryniewicz at 414.914.3134, or email jenny.gryniewicz@teachforamerica.org.
About Teach For America
Teach For America works in partnership with communities to expand educational opportunity for children facing the challenges of poverty. Founded in 1990, Teach For America recruits and develops a diverse corps of outstanding college graduates and professionals to make an initial two-year commitment to teach in high-need schools and become lifelong leaders in the movement to end educational inequity. Today, 10,600 corps members are teaching in 50 urban and rural regions across the country while more than 37,000 alumni work across sectors to ensure that all children have access to an excellent education. For more information, visit www.teachforamerica.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.