BOSTON — Wednesday, March 28, 2018 — Boston Public Schools’ (BPS) teachers got a special surprise today when they learned that all of the open BPS classroom projects on nonprofit crowdsourcing website DonorsChoose.org were instantly funded in full.
Ripple, a San Francisco-based technology company, and its executives, announced that they donated $29 million to fund every classroom request on the site. As part of that surprise funding, 186 projects from 145 BPS teachers were funded, totaling $156,167. Combined with citizen and corporate donations already given, $198,731 in classroom supplies and resources were supported for BPS.
"We are always grateful to organizations that contribute to the education and success of Boston Public School students," said BPS Superintendent Tommy Chang. "This generous funding made possible by both DonorsChoose.org and Ripple will have a tangible impact on our students and the entire district. We are all very thankful for this generous support."
This is the first time in the 18-year history of DonorsChoose.org that a donor has funded every project on the site. Stephen Colbert revealed the news on Tuesday’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and the organization celebrated all of the funded teachers on social media using the hashtag #BestSchoolDay.
"At Ripple, we care about giving back to our community, and we collectively value the importance of quality education in developing the next generation of leaders," said Monica Long, SVP of Marketing at Ripple. "We’re proud to work with DonorsChoose.org to support classroom needs across the country."
"We are awestruck by the generosity of the Ripple team," said Charles Best, founder of DonorsChoose.org. "Our country’s teachers and school leaders work so hard to give their students the best education possible, and we’re excited to recognize and reward their efforts with #BestSchoolDay."
Now that the projects have been funded, the team at DonorsChoose.org will purchase the requested materials and ship them to Boston Public School District schools. Among the projects funded in Boston were:
- Building Blocks for Creative Pre-K Kids for Colleen Mason’s class at East Boston Early Education Center.
- Warm Boots for All for Felicia Spencer’s class at Snowden International High School at Copley.
- Laptops for Little Learners for Adam Hughes’s class at Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School in Roxbury.
"I am extremely excited to receive this unbelievable donation from the Ripple team," said Spencer. "Overnight, I met all four open fundraising goals that I had posted on DonorsChoose.org, including one which was just days away from expiring. I cannot thank Ripple enough for helping to provide my students with materials that will undoubtedly have a positive impact on their lives—both inside and outside the classroom."
"These donations have changed the way I approach speech therapy. I've gone from making do, to dreaming big," said Thomas Shull, a speech-language therapist at both the Snowden and Josiah Quincy Upper School in Chinatown. "I want my students to have every opportunity to reach their potential. DonorsChoose.org has supported my classroom beyond measure."
As new projects appear on DonorsChoose.org, donors can search for projects from the Boston Public Schools by visiting www.donorschoose.org, clicking “Find a classroom to support,” and typing in the local school or teacher name. Teachers can create a new project by visiting www.donorschoose.org/teachers.
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