In the face of adversity, there are those whose mission it is to step up and help. Last month, the Colorado Department of Education announced that it would provide $1000 in COVID relief funding to any public school teacher across the state who applied through the philanthropic program, Donor’s Choose.   Teachers who submitted an eligible project were automatically funded until the funds ran out. In a quick six days, the money was gone.                                                                                                           

One of the fortunate teachers at Harrison, Dani Collette, bought an iPad for her English class for students who needed support when reading. She said it helped those who preferred auditory learning.                                                                           

Rachel Erazo, Drama teacher, bought an iPad, a kitchen island, cover and keyboard for the iPad, and spike tape. Erazo says the iPad is very helpful for her Theatre Management and Stagecraft classes as well as her Drama Club. Her students also use it for concession management. They turned the island into a mobile concession stand and the spike tape to mark ground plans on the stage.                                                                                                 

Another one of the recipients of the relief money was Lupe Lopez, a Special Education teacher. She says she has invested the money in “a communication corner for the kids.” Ms. Lopez’ goal is to increase communication skills with her students who are Special Education.  Her plans are to have a new environment where students will feel comfortable. According to Ms. Lopez, her students have been involved in making the communication corner. She feels that it is a nice way for her students to practice communicating in “a sort of non-academic way.”                                                                                                                               

Choir teacher Jennifer Sibley  purchased four Bluetooth headsets. She says using these headsets will help the music department and theater department students communicate with one another in the front of house and back of house during productions, allowing the shows to run seamlessly with little eruption. The headsets also allow for more student directed productions that teach real-life skills in producing shows. 

In all, more than ten HHS teachers took advantage of the funding to improve their classrooms.