Fundraising efforts lead to continuation of video-making class

In an age of cash-strapped school budgets, teachers and support staff have found themselves getting creative in order to give students all the tools needed to succeed in their education.

A teacher at Stikine Middle School had such success with an extracurricular class last year that she began fundraising to continue the program this year, reaching her goal in a short amount of time.

Sixth grade teacher Laura Davies worked with Juneau-based Seth Bader and the See Stories program last spring. The program helps build inclusive communities through video storytelling. She wanted to be able to continue a version of the program this year but that would require having all the video equipment that Bader brought with him.

Davies emailed Bader to find out what kind of equipment would be needed to keep the program going. She knew it wouldn't be cheap. "It's known that the school doesn't have a surplus (of funds) to buy camera equipment," she said.

Originally, she considered applying for a grant. Though she doesn't have a lot of experience writing grants, she was willing to give it a try. However, in the past, Davies had used a popular fundraising website called DonorsChoose.org, though never for as much as $3,525 she needed for the video equipment.

DonorsChoose.com allows donors to review open fundraising efforts to see which ones they would most like to contribute money to. Once the goal is met, DonorsChoose purchases the items requested and sends them directly to the teacher. Donors are then updated on where every dollar of the fundraising was spent.

It was the eighth time Davies has used the site to raise money for school projects. She said she knows of many other teachers in Wrangell who have used the site or have gotten creative in other ways to help fund their programs or buy needed supplies.

"We definitely share (ideas)," she said. "We celebrate that in meetings. ... Our community takes care of our kids so well with back-to-school supplies, we don't have to worry that much about that. I feel like kids have the basic supplies, so we can fundraise for bigger supplies."

The National Education Association reported that for the 2022-2023 school year, teachers nationwide spent an average of $820 of their own money for classroom supplies. Like Davies, many teachers across the country are using DonorsChoose.

"This year was a bit unique as the state used federal pandemic relief money to start a DonorsChoose for all the teachers in Alaska (first come, first served) to gain extra supplies for the 2023-2024 classroom," said Schools Superintendent Bill Burr. "Several of us sent the information out to the staff and at least Tasha Morse, Jennifer Davies and Laura Davies were awarded funding."

Davies' video fundraiser on DonorsChoose was separate from the state-organized fundraiser.

Burr said teachers work with advisory and parent groups to organize fundraisers for various programs and supplies.

"We, as a district, understand that sometimes extra materials or opportunities are needed beyond direct district funding," he said. "Sometimes we have been able to provide current grant monies or write additional grants at the district level to expand" fundraiser efforts.

In a series of fortuitous events, Davies was able to raise funds quickly. On a trip to Anchorage and the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program with some of her students, she began talking with an employee of Trident Seafoods. When it came time to seek donations, Davies remembered the connection and reached out.

"I was going to write a business a day until I got the thing financed," I really only reached out to two businesses, but Trident was the first business I reached out to. Trident instantly responded. Even in these trying times, they were still able to give me $1,660."

Since many kids who grow up here are involved in the commercial fishing industry, Davies felt Trident was a natural choice. Some of the videos from last year focused on the industry and kids interviewed fishermen and others involved in it.

At the time Davies chose to use DonorsChoose, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation partnered with it to donate matching funds up to 50%. Many community members also donated to the project, including massage therapist Ellen Jellum, who decided to give after seeing a post on Facebook.

"I think it's awesome that kids in such a small town can have access to such an awesome thing," she said. "This is my first small town, so I don't have a lot of personal experience to pull from."

Jellum grew up in a larger city and things like choir and the audio-visual club were always fully funded. She said she's finally at a point where she can give back to the community financially, so she felt it was important to contribute, calling it a responsibility. She sees donating as a way to help make things better all around.

"If you make your schooling better, then, eventually, society gets better," she said.