May 24, 2022 3 min read

People understand that teachers are having a hard time right now, and they want to show support.

There’s a nationwide program called Donors Choose. You can search geographically to find a teacher you want to support, I’ve helped fund teachers in Trinity, McGuffey and I think Canon Mac. I’ve done some of the disadvantaged districts around the area. It’s great- you have a tax deduction and you do good for local kids. If you are interested, you could interview me if you want. If you can’t find other donors, I would get a few people to donate so you can interview them too. My chiropractor is interested in funding them as well.

Here’s the general web address: https://www.donorschoose.org/ If you go there and search geographically, there are a bunch of projects right now in Canonsburg, Muse, Monangahela and Burgettstown. I can help with this story if you can’t find donors. For example, Bill Price was the superintendent at Burgettstown (as you know) and might be interested in helping that district. For this one, it would be fun to put donors and kids together, even if it’s zoom.

Thank you for recognizing the generous donors we have in our community and beyond. Donations we have received through Donors Choose (and other platforms, such as Adopt-a-Classroom) will positively impact our students for years to come.

The attached photos are of students using science goggles we were provided via a Donors Choose project several years ago. Last year, we received a classroom iPad through Donors Choose. It proved to be an essential tool for communicating with parents throughout the year, and this year the device’s portability has made it easy for our fifth grade cyber students to attend school assemblies, virtually. (One of our fifth grade students last year donated a cover for the iPad, and her mother created a royal blue Trinity label for it.)

Please let me know if you need any information about specific pictures or if you would like more details regarding our fulfilled projects (found here: https://www.donorschoose.org/school/trinity-west-elementary-school/91144).

Thank you,

Kim Lapp

Mrs. Kimberly Lapp

Fifth Grade Cyber Teacher

Trinity West Elementary

724-222-4730 (ext. 1148)

Dorothy Tecklenburg has donated to our classrooms at Trinity West multiple times over the last several years (through DonorsChoose).  Her generosity has helped to provide a subscription to Flocabulary for all of third grade, a Storyworks Magazine subscription from Scholastic for fifth grade, and four ergonomic student desks to support online learning.

The students who benefited from the Flocabulary subscription (an online learning program that uses educational hip-hop music to help students learn key strategies) recounted a couple years later how the songs they learned through the subscription continued to play in their heads when completing an assignment or taking a test.  The Scholastic Storyworks Magazine subscription provided two years of rigorous texts which engaged students and made them excited to read.  Storyworks Magazine was later adopted within the District budget.  More recently, the donation of four ergonomic student desks has allowed the school to identify and support students who demonstrate a need for the flexible seating/standing options that these desks provide.

These projects highlight only a few of the ways Dorothy has supported the students and staff at Trinity.  Her generosity and kindness have made a lasting impact and we are forever grateful to her.