Google is at it again now by funding Los Angeles schools. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced today that Internet search giant Google has fully funded the classroom requests of every Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) teacher on the education crowdfunding platform DonorsChoose.org. As a result of Google’s nearly $1 million donation, 769 Los Angeles teachers will receive materials for their 75,108 students — ranging from paper, pencils and books to laptops, musical instruments and microscopes.
During his visit at Marina Del Rey Middle School, Mayor Gacetti stated, “Our school teachers give their all every day to ensure that Los Angeles students reach their full potential. We’re grateful for their ongoing dedication and passion that’s inspiring the next generation of Angelenos – and I’m thrilled that the help of Google and DonorsChoose.org will help every student reach their dreams a little faster.”
On DonorsChoose.org, teachers post projects requesting materials they need for their classrooms, and donors support the projects that inspire them. Among the projects funded this morning were bird guides and binoculars for Mrs. Vibbert ‘s students and a bilingual classroom library for Mrs. Perez’s students. Special guest Kevin McHale of Glee was on-hand to surprise Marina Del Rey students with supplies.
Head of Google’s Venice office, Thomas Williams, noted, “As a longtime resident of Los Angeles and parent of students in LAUSD, I’ve seen how hard our schoolteachers work, how dedicated they are and how, often, the resources they would like to have to help our children just aren’t available. As our office and company has been committed to education, especially for underserved communities, it was a perfect opportunity to fund all the DonorsChoose.org projects throughout LAUSD.”
“We are so humbled and grateful to Google for their devotion to our teachers and students,” said Charles Best, founder and CEO of DonorsChoose.org. “This is a great day for Los Angeles classrooms.”
On Monday morning, 1,071 projects were funded in LAUSD schools. Google posted a message on every funded project, letting teachers know they were part of the surprise. Over the past few months, Google has announced similar “flash funding” campaigns in San Francisco,Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Austin, and Kansas City. In addition to their project funding initiatives, Google has also supported several DonorsChoose.org programs over the years, including a $5 million AP STEM Access program, which launched over 500 new AP STEM courses at high poverty schools nationwide.
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