When we lived in Texas I gained a love for Sonic Drive-In. When we moved back home to Washington it was one of the things I missed most. Slowly over the years, Sonic locations have been added to our state but just within the past few months, a new one was built within driving distance! When I learned about Sonic’s Limeades for Learning campaign I was even more excited to support this chain. They are doing amazing things for kids and teachers across the country. Did you know that every year teachers spend about $500 of their own hard earned money on basic school supplies to help improve classroom experiences for their students? Sonic Drive-In noticed the need for pubic school teachers to get more support. That’s why Sonic Drive-In partnered with DonorsChoose.org 10 years ago and launched the Limeades for Learning Program.
This national award-winning initiative supports public school teachers in local communities nationwide and has donated $9.5 million to fund essential learning materials through their partnership with DonorsChose.org. This program helps provide essential learning materials and innovative teaching resources that inspire creativity and learning. There are 3 periods in which SONIC makes $1 million donations to public schools:
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- During the Fall Voting Campaign, which typically runs from late September through October
- Throughout the months of January through April during a series of surprise funding events in cities across the country – as an example, today SONIC funded 75 teacher projects from across the country in honor of National Handwriting Day
- Throughout the month of May during #ThanksTeach, a social media campaign encouraging consumers to thank their favorite teachers during Teacher Appreciation Month
By 2021 SONIC’s total contribution to local public school classrooms will exceed $20 million! Isn’t that amazing? I wanted to see which projects in my community needed funding and found a couple right in my own kid’s school! This project through the Limeades for Learning program is only 10% funded so far.
About this project
First grade is a wonderful and amazing place to be! My students enter school every day eager and ready to learn. They have a wonderful and natural curiosity about the world. The students are each unique learners, but each one has many special gifts to offer to the world. The students come from diverse backgrounds with a variety of languages and cultures. What makes us special is our strong sense of community. We work together to create a classroom culture that fosters creativity, hard work, acceptance and celebrations of both successes and failures as an important part of learning. Each day, I am fascinated by their drive and the ways they continually find to support each other! They work and learn through play and conversation, as well as through their written work. This project is for TIME FOR KIDS informational books. These books have full color photographs and are specifically designed for first grade readers. Having a classroom full of highly engaging books at students “just right” reading level, as well as providing students with reading material for home is a MUST for any elementary class. First grade is such an important year for learning to read. Students come from kindergarten with many early literacy skills including, alphabet recognition, book and print awareness, early phonics and decoding skills, and knowledge of many sight words. As a first grade teacher, it is my job to help them put these skills together along with comprehension strategies to become readers! It is such an accomplishment to become a reader! It can be very challenging to find books that match both skill level and interest level for early learners. As educators, we want to instill a love of reading in all students. These books will do just that. They are highly engaging, and cover a wide variety of topics including animals, weather and transportation. Students will have access to these books at school for independent and partner reading, as well as for reading at home with their families. Thank you so much for considering my project!
Mrs. Beverford’s class also has a Birthday Book project that needs funding to allow each child to pick out and take home a brand new book on their birthday. There are many great project to contribute to whether you choose to support a school in your own community or you have a special place in your heart for a specific area like math or science, you’ll be sure to find a worthy cause to contribute to. Explore projects that need funding here.