MEDIA CONTACT: Kim Peters
info@opportunity-granted.org
(773) 351-5677
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 8 , 2019
New Non-profit Launches to Help Create Equality in Education for Chicago Public Schools
Chicago, IL -- A new nonprofit, Opportunity GrantED, Inc., recently launched its mission to create equality in education based on the belief that every child from every community deserves an equal education regardless of socio-economic status.
“Schools are not equally funded, and as a result, schools in underserved communities often lack basic materials,” said Kristen Bowie, Co-Founder. “Teachers often are forced to either purchase these items out of pocket, or go without.” Ninety-four percent of American public school teachers reported paying for school supplies out of their own pocket in the 2014-15 school year according to a recent USA Today article. Those teachers spent an average of $479.
Opportunity GrantED will assist public school teachers by providing additional classroom resources that are not covered by district budgets. Its grant program is available to classrooms ranging from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. Teachers will have the opportunity to apply for grants in the fall and spring.
In August, Opportunity GrantED partnered with Richard Edwards Dual Language Fine & Performing Arts IB School in Chicago to pilot their first grant cycle. Fifty-six teachers applied for grants and Opportunity GrantED funded a portion of the $28,000 of items requested. The awarded items included basic school supplies ranging from paper, pencils, and file folders to color printers, coding robots and document cameras.
“Opportunity GrantED has been such an outstanding organization that provides for our most valuable people: students. It gave our educators such happiness to receive supplies and items that they needed to start the school year well prepared," said Judith Sauri, Principal of Richard Edwards.
Opportunity GrantED will kick off their fundraising efforts with a Launch Party in January of 2020 to raise funds for their second grant cycle in the spring.
About Opportunity GrantED:
Combining their years of experience in education and marketing, Opportunity GrantED was created by Kristen Bowie and Kim Peters to help alleviate the financial strain on public school teachers and enhance the learning environment for students. Launched with a pilot program in 2019, Opportunity GrantED’s goal is to increase the number of children impacted each year through the number of grants funded. Application, donor and event information can be found at www.opportunity-granted.org.
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