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Teacher’s Fund seeks to raise $50,000 to support local educators

Teachers
Blake Devine/KEYT

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — As teachers and students embark on another semester of online learning, the Teacher's Fund hopes to raise $50,000 to support area educators with instruction tools and materials throughout this unprecedented time.

This year's annual Back-to-School Supplies Drive will run for one month, from September 16 to October 16. As with many events these days, the entire fundraiser will be held online. 

All proceeds will be used to help Santa Barbara kindergarten through 12th grade teachers purchase educational supplies.

Distance learning hasn’t been easy for students and teachers.

"There's only so much a teacher can do on one side of the screen,” 5th-grade teacher Vivian Wong said. “Really in the classroom, it's so much more hands-on."

At Isla Vista Elementary School, keeping kids engaged has been a challenge.

"Coming with materials and making sure that they're accountable for those materials,” 2nd-grade teacher Rachel Tedesco said. "Making sure they're accountable for doing the work."

This year's fundraising goal is $50,000. For every $50 donated toward supplies, donors will receive an entry into a drawing for one of numerous great prizes. Businesses or organizations interested in sponsoring the event can do so starting at $250.

The Teacher's Fund was created in 2002 by the owners of Village Properties as a way for teachers to request much needed supplies for their classrooms. 

Since then, the Teacher's Fund has donated over $1.7 million to our local schools. 

This year, there’s more need than ever before.

"This year we reached out to the teachers and the principals a little bit earlier because of COVID-19,” Teacher's Fund founder Renee Grubb said. “Knowing that the teachers would have some challenges."

All of the funds raised will go directly to local K through 12 teachers for materials not funded by the state or their school district. 

This year, the Teacher's Fund has already provided emergency COVID-19 grants to teachers forced to adapt quickly to meet the challenge of providing digital school. 

“Especially through this remote learning, we have ordered hands-on tangible items for our students,” Tedesco said.

"Whiteboards, headphones and a lot of software for teaching online,” Grubb said.

The Back-to-School Supplies Drive will allow the organization to expand its support so that more teachers can optimize online learning for their students.

"It's able to help fund learning in classrooms whichever way the teacher feels that they need to supplement them,” Wong said.

"We're using the teacher's fund to create a classroom at home for our students,” Tedesco concluded.

Community members and businesses are invited to donate through the Teacher's Fund website.

Watch tonight on KEYT NewsChannel 3, KCOY News Channel 12 and KKFX Fox 11 news.

(More information, video and pictures will be added here later today.)

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Blake DeVine

Blake DeVine is a multimedia journalist and sports anchor at News Channel 3-12. To learn more about Blake, click here.

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