By Elizabeth Willoughby on
“The teacher that I miss and remember with such gratitude is Florence Hunt, who taught English. She encouraged me to write plays, she took me to plays, and when I got into drama school, I wrote her to tell her that her support really made such a huge difference. Teachers are the best.” So says actress Sigourney Weaver in response to the troubling trend of American teachers having to buy classroom supplies with their own money.
Actress Sharon Lawrence also shared some fond memories: “I was part of the first integrated school system in Charlotte, North Carolina, and my teacher, Queen T Bird, was the first inspiring teacher I ever had. She changed the way I thought about myself, the way I thought about my classmates, the way I thought about everything, really. I’m very grateful to Miss Queen T Bird for being the teacher of my life.”
In support of such teachers across the US, Adopt-A-Classroom partnered with Office Max in a campaign called Working To Erase Teacher Funded Classrooms to create an annual, one-day event, “A Day Made Better,” now in its third year. Besides bringing attention to the situation, 1100 teachers nominated by their principals for their exceptional efforts were each given a huge box of supplies worth $1000 earlier this month.
“It is unbelievable that teachers would have to shell out [for classroom supplies] from their very small monies that they get every year to do this,” says actress Christina Applegate. “This should be the right for children and it should be paid for so that they can have a future.”
“I grew up with real respect for my mother and my father who were teachers,” said actress Shirley MacLaine. “Please help Adopt-A-Classroom so teachers don’t have to fund them themselves.”
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Copyright © 2009 Look to the Stars
