It’s hard to learn without books, but in many Arizona schools, books are hard to find, and that’s where Wells Fargo comes in.
Some of the letters are heartbreaking, written with such honesty and desperation that it’s easy to see why you couldn’t say no. They speak to a need so basic, so Point-One-on-Page-One, that they show how bad it’s gotten in the public schools of Arizona.
They’re the letters of application to the Wells Fargo Teacher’s Partner Program, a little known helping hand from one of America’s oldest businesses to America’s children. “Currently, I do not have reading books to send home with my students,” writes Dana Abugow of San Tan Elementary in Gilbert. “As students read at their level, at home, their reading skills will increase.”
She is teaching in a brand new school in the fast-growing Higley Unified School District in the East Valley. They’re so busy building schools, they don’t have money for the books she needs.
And that’s where Wells Fargo steps in. Its program offers grants of up to $500 to educators for one simple reason: “To place badly needed cash directly into the hands of Arizona’s teachers so they can buy badly needed books, science and math lab equipment, costumes for school drama productions, computers and other supplies.”
Established in 1997, the program helps teachers from kindergarten through the 12th grade. So far, it has awarded Arizona teachers $1 million. (Nationwide, over the last three years, the company that was founded in 1852 has given more than $60 million to schools across the country.)
“We’re especially proud of this program, which provides direct help to front-line teachers who are so dedicated to the children of our state,” says Gerrit van Huisstede, president and CEO of Wells Fargo Arizona. Teachers like Dana Abugow, whose application notes that teachers and students at San Tan Elementary have already sponsored many fund-raisers to provide for themselves. “We have sold catalog items, put on a Halloween carnival, sold magnets and sold cookie dough,” she reports. “These fund-raisers have been used to buy school items such as playground equipment, supplies and more.
“First-grade has put on a car wash, sold holiday baskets and had a no-bake bake sale to go on a field trip and buy supplies (such as copy paper, glue, scissors and pencils).”
Excuse me, but children are hawking catalog items so they can have playground equipment? First-graders are washing cars to buy pencils? Hello! Does anyone else think this is unbelievable? Shouldn’t children be in school to LEARN, not to be trained as pint-sized fund-raisers?
“As can be seen, San Tan Elementary does not have the funding to buy anything that is beyond the necessities, so it would be greatly appreciated if Wells Fargo would help fund this reading enhancement program,” Abugow wrote. With that, she got her $500 check.
And if you think Dana Abugow is alone, you haven’t been paying attention to the crisis in Arizona classrooms.
Kate Shields of Laveen Elementary in the West Valley is a brand new teacher who instantly saw the challenges of her classroom.
“I’m a first year Teach for America teacher at an at-risk school,” she wrote. “I’m currently struggling to improve reading comprehension, but I lack targeted novels to use for reading groups.”
She says she has some basic fifth-grade books: “However, I have students reading at anywhere from a kindergarten and first-grade level to the seventh- and eighth-grade levels. I feel that using only a fifth-grade text is a disservice to my students, because my goal is to move each of them individually forward.”
She’s been trying to correct the problem on her own. “I visit the public library weekly to collect resources,” she said. “I have used the school resource room’s books, and I have allocated a large portion of my personal and classroom funds on novels, but my efforts do not come close to providing the books necessary for running a successful reading program.” She asked Wells Fargo for $300 to buy books. And she got it.
A grant of $500 went to Marilyn Zolondek and Natalie Laino of Yavapai Elementary in the Scottsdale Unified District. They noted that their school has 863 students, 67 percent of whom are poor enough to receive free or reduced lunches, and one-third of whom have limited English language skills.
These two women have combined their third-grade classes to team teach for the past several years. “We are in dire need of third- and fourth-grade chapter books for our classroom library,” they told Wells Fargo. “Students choose books to read during a daily silent reading period. The books we have are worn and mainly appropriate for first- and second-graders. We’d like to purchase new chapter books and reading materials that would keep students enthused about reading, and challenged at their appropriate level.
“Many of our students have no home libraries. Their only access to reading ma-terials is at school. Our goal is to provide our students with a literature-rich classroom, which would allow them to read, to learn and to develop a lifelong love of books.”
Teachers like Lisa Leifer, of Country Meadows Elementary in the Peoria Unified District, write that “worksheets have been used in place of children’s literature to compensate for the lack of appropriate-level books.”
Teachers like Winona Considine of Papago School in the Creighton District asked for $500 to help create an after-school reading club for children and families to combat adult illiteracy and get kids turned on to books.
The stories come from all over Arizona and all have the same ring. And the fact that those stories are resonating with a major financial institution is heartwarming.
Of course, who wouldn’t melt if you got a thank you letter like this, from Kathleen Caldwell of Alfred F. Garcia School in the Murphy District: “My children and I wanted to say thank you very, very much for the grant money…. You should have been here to see the looks in their eyes when all of our 500 new books arrived….
“Thanks to you, my students are so excited to read. They can’t wait to choose books to read and admire. With so many great choices, the kids just keep reading and reading, which, naturally, is every teacher’s dream come true.
“You very special people have made my students enjoy reading all over again. The neat thing is that the kids are excited about learning. You don’t know how wonderful it is to see my struggling students beginning to use books for enjoyment. Their reading scores have improved.
“Actually, I believe you must know exactly what it is like for a child to discover learning. I’m sure that is exactly why your organization has created your wonderful program…. I can’t express to you how, with your simple act of kindness, you heavenly souls have transformed my classroom into a reading machine. It’s quite obvious that your commitment to children’s learning is a pure dedication from the heart.”
As I read that letter, I thought back to when I first learned to read and how thrilling the world of books was for me, and still is to this day. But I also remember well-stocked libraries, and how both our librarian and principal put more and more sophisticated books into the hands of that girl they saw as a potential writer. I didn’t have to wash cars to get the books I needed, and I certainly wasn’t reduced to Xeroxed worksheets instead of books as my reading level changed. How could we have gone so far backward over these years?
At a time when we’re holding teachers and students so accountable to test scores, how in the world can we be denying them the very basic tools they need to teach reading?
I’m so thankful Wells Fargo has this program, but I’m also disgusted that it’s necessary. Teachers shouldn’t have to go begging for books. Shame on you, Arizona.
Before I tell teachers how they can apply for these grants, I want to give another heads-up: Every July, the Friends of the Phoenix Public Library sponsors a “Teachers Sale” at its warehouse, where a quarter-million books are available at a price of $1 for hardbacks and 50 cents for paperbacks. Take advantage of this.
I’m told this sale is keeping a lot of school libraries afloat.
To apply for a grant of up to $500, send requests to Wells Fargo Teacher’s Partner Program, MAC No. 4321013, 150 N. Stone Ave., Tucson, AZ 85701, or call 800-711-9590.
