Deadline Approaching For The Classroom Fund

Cuts to education funding have led many teachers to dip into their own pockets to buy supplies they need for the classroom, or turn to students and their families to supplement classroom tools.

One local organization has created a renewing fund of $30,000 to help as many teachers as possible, called The Classroom Fund. The El Paso Community Foundation, with the help of Price’s Creameries, the El Paso Times, and ABC-7, helped create the fund.

“We have great teachers out there with great ideas, and over and over again we kept hearing from teachers that they were not able to do the things in their classroom that they wanted to, based on budget,” said Julie Tarwater, program officer for the El Paso Community Foundation.

Tarwater told ABC-7 applications have been accepted since December, and she has so far received 250 submissions.

“We’ll just evaluate the submissions as they come in from teachers based on innovative ideas, based on the number of students that are going to be served, and based on need,” said Tarwater.

The teachers won’t receive money directly. Instead, the teachers will supply a cost for the items they’re requesting and the Classroom Fund will pick up the tab and deliver the items to the classroom directly.

Applications will be accepted until the end of the month.

If you would like to apply, click here.