Mayor, Superintendent Launch Website Linking Donors to Classrooms

Mayor Thomas M. Menino joined today Superintendent Thomas W. Payzant at the Winthrop Elementary School to announce the launching of a new website, www.givetokids.org, that matches donors seeking to help schools with teachers who have specific requests for supplementary materials.

"We are lucky to live in a city with generous residents and businesses that are always eager to lend a hand to a good cause," Mayor Menino said. "This new website will allow them to find a classroom teacher with a request to enhance the learning experience of our students and help to give our students a brighter future."

The website allows classroom teachers to post requests listing products that they think will enhance their students' learning experience. Donors then have the ability to search by neighborhood, school, school-level or dollar amount in order to discover a match for their contribution.

Boston Public Schools students from the TechBoston Consulting Group designed the website and are responsible for its maintenance. Mayor Menino and Superintendent Payzant thanked them for their hard work and congratulated them on a wonderful product.

"This website provides a great opportunity for teachers to ask for additional materials that will assist them with their instruction," Superintendent Payzant said. "The outlook for school budgets is improving and Give-to-Kids is a perfect way for interested donors to support teachers with the work they do with students every day."

To date, over 50 teachers have signed up for donations ranging from chap-stick for young students to suits for older students preparing for job interviews.

Two teachers at the Winthrop school have requested extra materials for their students. Christina Perez asked for books-on-tape to assist her students learning English. In her request, she said that hearing the way written English sounds is a key ingredient in increasing reading fluency and comprehension. Michelle Lydon, who works with students in Kindergarten through Fifth Grade who have specific learning and language disabilities, asked for additional books for her classroom library saying that providing high interest reading materials from catalogs geared for students with learning disabilities will assist her students to overcome language and reading difficulties.