School Year in Review 2022

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2022 - 2023

School Year in Review

Every day, my team and I have the privilege to see the triumphs that are possible for America’s students when they have the right resources. This year, we saw Mr. Odom’s high schoolers learn about sustainability through gardening. We saw Ms. Castillo’s little learners explore new worlds through books and games. And we saw Ms. Hines’ students build their self-love and confidence through yoga. Those were just a few of the incredible classroom moments made possible thanks to the �ǿմ�ý community in the last year.

This school year posed tough challenges, for those in and out of the classroom. Teachers spent more money out-of-pocket on classroom materials, schools remained understaffed, and political battles over curriculum dominated the national conversation. Yet in the face of economic uncertainty and increasing political tensions, our community told teachers, “We trust in you — and we believe in your students.”

We’re exploring new pathways to a more just public education system in coalition with teachers and funders, from our newly launched to cutting-edge research initiatives. I can’t wait to see what this community accomplishes together in the coming months.

With gratitude, Alix Guerrier, CEO, �ǿմ�ý

This school year, funders gave $152 million, bringing 316,805 classroom project requests to life for public school teachers.

157,997
Teachers supported

4.2M
Items
delivered

546,913
Donors gave

188
Corporate, foundation, and state partners

1.3M Books delivered, or 3.5x Mount Everest

Mount Everest
29,032 feet

933,638 Erasers delivered, or 1.6x Mount Everest

We continued to combat racial and socioeconomic inequity in school funding

Teachers of color and teachers working at Equity Focus Schools spend more of their own money on classroom materials, indicating access to fewer resources from their schools.

Average teacher out of pocket spending¹

$687

Overall

$714

Teachers of color

$718

Teachers at Equity Focus Schools

When we increase the �ǿմ�ý funding going to Equity Focus Schools and teachers of color, we shrink the resource gaps caused by historical, systemic injustices.

53%

2018-19

54%

2019-20

58%

2020-21

61%

2021-22

64%

2022-23

Portion of funded projects from Equity Focus Schools

1 in 4 Black teachers in America use �ǿմ�ý

Our teachers and funders teamed up
to make sure students could have
the best education possible.

Teachers told us how basic supplies
support learning

58%

of teachers need classroom basics (like pens and pencils)¹

Dry erase markers allowed Ms. Hoi’s classroom to reclaim learning time.

“We were running low on markers and your donation came at the perfect time! We spent 2-3 weeks recycling and shaking our old markers to make them last, so when the new markers came, we were all so excited! This supply will last us through the end of the year.”

Math Practice

Ms. Hoi

Deodorant and toothpaste helped Coach Hill’s students feel their
best and focus on class.

“All students deserve to focus on their education without having to worry about where and when they will be able to receive the hygiene products to keep them fresh and clean throughout the day.”

Hygiene Essentials For Our Scholars

Coach Hill

54%

of teachers need life essentials for students (like hygiene products and food)¹

Funders supported
culturally responsive resources
to build brave spaces

Panda Express wanted to help classrooms celebrate Lunar New Year, so they doubled donations to related projects, like Ms. Stroy’s.

“Most of my students celebrate the Chinese New Year, and they would love to educate and involve the whole class in making festive lanterns, fireworks, and rabbit sculptures! My students eagerly provided me with a vision and a list of craft materials and colors to make their celebration a success.”

It's a Celebration: Lunar New Year 2023!

Ms. Stroy

88%

more Lunar New Year projects this school year than in the last 17 years combined

Our Black History Month partners made sure Mrs. McDaniel’s students could celebrate themselves through art.

“The students have one brown color and one peach crayon in the their supplies. This donation would help them to choose from a variety of skin color crayon options.”

My Skin Color Crayons

Mrs. McDaniel

Equity Focus Schools were more than 2x as likely to receive skin tone art supplies this school year

Twelve donors teamed up with Mr. Abdullah to stock his classroom library with a diversity of characters so students could fall in love with reading.

“I want my students to be able to find books in our classroom library that they see themselves in, that offer cultural references that they relate to, and feel a connection to characters to suspend disbelief and completely immerse themselves in new books.”

Characters Like Me!

Mr. Abdullah

Trending books featuring characters and authors of color

The Name Jar

Brown Girl Dreaming

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

Dear Martin

New Kid

Corporate and nonprofit partners set students up for career success

BUILD.org and Comcast gave high schoolers access to an innovative entrepreneurship program.

“Thanks to the partnership with �ǿմ�ý and their highly engaged teacher community, BUILD.org was able to grow the footprint of its programming and inspire the next generation of problem solvers and entrepreneurs.”

Dalila Wilson-Scott, EVP and Chief Diversity Officer, Comcast

Amazon Future Engineers inspired students with
STEM career possibilities.

“I really liked how this made learning about STEM applicable to the real world. My students could see how some of the concepts they're learning about right now in math and science could transfer to an actual job.”

Teacher Participant

State Departments of Education
supported teachers

State departments of education in Oklahoma, Arizona, and �Ჹ�ɲ��’i directly funded teachers’ classroom requests, allowing teachers to be nimble and responsive to students’ changing learning needs in the wake of COVID-19.

Oklahoma

$6 million

6,978 projects

1,312 schools

Arizona

$6 million

13,642 projects

1,695 schools

�Ჹ�ɲ��’i

$4 million

5,055 projects

280 schools

Teachers fostered social connections
among students

By tapping into match offers from Valhalla Foundation and the �ǿմ�ý community, Ms. Lucas and Mrs. Lozin nurtured friendships in their schools to help students build bonds post-COVID.

“Board games now can help students learn communication skills, critical thinking skills, exercise creativity, and the sky's the limit. Through cooperative play, my students are learning how to take turns, share responsibility, and how to problem solve.”

Learn and Play

Ms. Lucas

“Although we have returned to the physical building, students continue to deal with various issues related to COVID. To help students decrease their isolation during lunch we have begun to host quarterly Book-nic events. This fun event invites students and faculty to bring their favorite books, a blanket and their lunch to the courtyard during their designated lunch period.”

Books for Book-nic

Mrs. Lozin

Trending books that support
social and emotional learning

A Little SPOT of Emotion

A Little SPOT of Feelings

The Sour Grape

The Smart Cookie

Wonder

Our community made headlines

“As ‘Abbott Elementary’ returns to ABC for the latter half of its second season, �ǿմ�ý has set a new initiative that aims to get $1 million into public school classrooms.”

Teacher Ambassadors are committed and vocal volunteer teacher advocates who spread the word about �ǿմ�ý in their schools and communities.

This school year:

6,100 teacher ambassadors
90% of ambassadors represented Equity Focus Schools
15,800 teachers joined �ǿմ�ý with the help of a teacher ambassador

Volunteer screeners review projects to ensure teachers demonstrate how the requested resources will improve student learning and that student safety and privacy is protected — usually in under 24 hours.

Teacher screener Spotlight

Francie Kugelman

Helping teachers through �ǿմ�ý brings me great happiness and satisfaction… and the love and friendship I have from so many teachers brings a huge smile to my face daily.

More about francie

Retired teacher
Started using �ǿմ�ý in 2014
260+ funded projects
Screening projects for 3 years

Spotlighting classroom resources from Black-owned businesses made it easy for teachers to choose materials that support equity in more ways than one.

Our network of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) empowers staff from historically excluded and underrepresented communities to build community within �ǿմ�ý. Through Giving Pages, ERGs rally support for projects they’re passionate about.

B.O.S.S.

Black Organization of Soulful Staff

See Giving Page

D.A.L.E.

�ǿմ�ý Association of Latinx Employees

See Giving Page

RAD

Representing Asians at �ǿմ�ý

See Giving Page

Rainbow

LGBTQIA+ staff at �ǿմ�ý

See Giving Page

W.E.L.L.

Women Empowerment, Learning & Leadership

See Giving Page

Corporate, foundation, and state partners gave $81 million to projects this year, supporting 77% of all funded projects

Thank you to our most generous supporters!

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School Year in Review