Hey guys!

My wife is a 1st grade teacher and we are looking for ideas on getting some kind of funding to get her classroom a 16GB iPad 2. She works at a Title I school and she feels having this kind of technology in her classroom could be a great teaching aid. As you know most school districts all over the US are having money issues, so this is something she would need to try and get outside funding for. Any ideas you guys could give us on trying to make this happen would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!
Jason

Originally Posted by xavier32178

Hey guys!

My wife is a 1st grade teacher and we are looking for ideas on getting some kind of funding to get her classroom a 16GB iPad 2. She works at a Title I school and she feels having this kind of technology in her classroom could be a great teaching aid. As you know most school districts all over the US are having money issues, so this is something she would need to try and get outside funding for. Any ideas you guys could give us on trying to make this happen would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!
Jason

Get a job working at McDonalds on the weekends, buy an Ipad2, and then gift the Ipad2 to the school. Deduct it from your taxes. Win-win.

Originally Posted by Chriztofor

Originally Posted by xavier32178

Hey guys!

My wife is a 1st grade teacher and we are looking for ideas on getting some kind of funding to get her classroom a 16GB iPad 2. She works at a Title I school and she feels having this kind of technology in her classroom could be a great teaching aid. As you know most school districts all over the US are having money issues, so this is something she would need to try and get outside funding for. Any ideas you guys could give us on trying to make this happen would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!
Jason

Get a job working at McDonalds on the weekends, buy an Ipad2, and then gift the Ipad2 to the school. Deduct it from your taxes. Win-win.

My wife and I are on one income since I am a stay-at-home dad. We spend most of our little extra money we have left on supplies for the kids in my wife's classroom since most are less fortunate. On the weekends I help my parents out by cleaning their house because my dad is a 100% disabled veteran and my mom just had surgery to remove her cancer and they are also dealing with the loss of my little brother who was killed in Iraq at 22 years old who died fighting for his Country for people like you!!! My wife is wanting to do this to have new technology in her classroom to help with new ways to teach her first graders! We are looking for serious ideas! We care about the kids she teaches like they are our own and want the best for them!!! If you don't have a constructive comment to make, then don't make one at all!

Thanks,
Jason

Just to make this clear we are not looking for a handout! We are asking for ideas. There may be other teachers on this forum that might have great ideas on how to raise money for this. I know a lot of people care about children's education and I figured this forum would be a great place to get some ideas from!

Thanks,
Jason

Try writing Steve Jobs, Apple has been known to have a kind heart for stories like yours.

Originally Posted by testerdennis

Try writing Steve Jobs, Apple has been known to have a kind heart for stories like yours.

Thanks testerdennis! I did some more research and found this site DonorsChoose.org: An online charity connecting you to classrooms in need Looks like it may be a great option. We might also try to finance it and see if we can write it off on our taxes since it will be used strictly in the classroom. We have been able to write other expenses off like the classroom supplies the students have needed that we bought for them like crayons, pencils, glue and paper. My wife has a masters in technology and she is always looking into new innovative ways to help teach her 1st graders! Thanks for your idea and I will pass it along to her tonight.

Thanks,
Jason

Hi Jason,

A great idea, to use the iPad in the classroom. If you are trying to figure out the funding for just one, I’d contact Apple and find out what the cost will be. They do offer discounts to educational institutions.

With that cost info in hand, I would approach either your local chamber of commerce or largest local businesses for underwriting the purchase on behalf of the school. With the free engraving offered by Apple, the donor’s name could be engraved on the back. Public acknowledgment is always a plus.

Since there are folks who are clueless about technology (or common courtesy, as you’ve seen), I think it would be helpful for your wife to install the educational apps she plans to use on her own iPad so potential benefactors could see their benefit - and be assured it’s not just a gaming machine.

The business community, at least in my area, is always willing to contribute towards good educational projects.

Hope it works out for you. My thanks to your family for its service, and condolences for your loss.

I'm sure you've probably mulled over all sorts of fund raising ideas.. bake sales, etc., but somehow my brain merged "1st graders" with a video I'd seen of an artist finger painting on an iPad, with some amazing results. (You can find the video(s) by searching youtube with "fingerpaint" and "ipad" as the search criteria.)

1st graders are of an age that is particularly artistically uninhibited, with the potential to produce some really graphically exciting art. You could do any number of things with their art, from having a "gallery exhibition" with works being sold or auctioned to creating iron-on transfers of their work made and sold (there are craft store kits that facilitate this).

At any rate, good luck with this project, it's definitely a worthy one!

Originally Posted by Aspasia

Hi Jason,

A great idea, to use the iPad in the classroom. If you are trying to figure out the funding for just one, I’d contact Apple and find out what the cost will be. They do offer discounts to educational institutions.

With that cost info in hand, I would approach either your local chamber of commerce or largest local businesses for underwriting the purchase on behalf of the school. With the free engraving offered by Apple, the donor’s name could be engraved on the back. Public acknowledgment is always a plus.

Since there are folks who are clueless about technology (or common courtesy, as you’ve seen), I think it would be helpful for your wife to install the educational apps she plans to use on her own iPad so potential benefactors could see their benefit - and be assured it’s not just a gaming machine.

The business community, at least in my area, is always willing to contribute towards good educational projects.

Hope it works out for you. My thanks to your family for its service, and condolences for your loss.

Thanks Aspasia for the condolences! The anniversary of my brother's death was Saturday, so this weekend was a hard one for my family and I!

I checked the Apple Store and they don't seem to give a discount on the iPad 2 at this time for educational institutions. We are going to try the website I mentioned above and I will also talk to my wife about what you mentioned above. Those are some great ideas and I really appreciate your feedback! My wife gives her heart and soul to teaching and just wants the best for her students Thanks again and have a great week!

Jason

Originally Posted by debsylvania

I'm sure you've probably mulled over all sorts of fund raising ideas.. bake sales, etc., but somehow my brain merged "1st graders" with a video I'd seen of an artist finger painting on an iPad, with some amazing results. (You can find the video(s) by searching youtube with "fingerpaint" and "ipad" as the search criteria.)

1st graders are of an age that is particularly artistically uninhibited, with the potential to produce some really graphically exciting art. You could do any number of things with their art, from having a "gallery exhibition" with works being sold or auctioned to creating iron-on transfers of their work made and sold (there are craft store kits that facilitate this).

At any rate, good luck with this project, it's definitely a worthy one!

Thanks debsylvania! That is a great idea! My wife & I have actually bought art work off of students at her school to decorate our 2 year old daughters room. I will pass this idea along to her!

Thanks again!
Jason