This Fall, Let's Make Our LCMC Garden Thrive...
I am no gardener, to be clear, but last week I saw an interview with some folks who lost everything in the fires that have engulfed much of northern California. One of the women being interviewed said she’d lost everything except hope, and that she was determined to get back to her garden when she could. She found hope in the idea that with some care and attention, she could make her little corner of the world thrive again.
As a teacher starting another school year, I can understand this feeling. The classroom is a type of garden. I think. We work with our students to create spaces where we can all thrive even in the face of adversity.
At LCMC, still working through the challenges of COVID, we are thriving.
The Board of Education is honoring LCMC for its contribution to MCPS parents with a Distinguished Service Award that will be announced publicly this fall.
Our state funding increased by $100,000 this fiscal year because of the amazing work we did during the height of COVID.
We created our own Digital Literacy curriculum and digital literacy bootcamps, so that we can ensure 100% of our students are digitally literate when they start their classes.
AND
4. We just received a grant for $50,000 to start an incubator space for immigrants and GED students to get the support they need to start their own businesses.
I want you all to pay especially close attention to that last point, because we could use your help. With $50K, we will be able to run a couple cohorts of students and train them on the basics of how to run a business. We will also be able to pair them with mentors who can help them create their own business plans, but what we are missing is the opportunity to give them real-life training. If we can match that 50K this fall, we will have enough money to partner with a local coffee business and start a coffee stand of our own that will be run by students in the Entrepreneurial Incubator. They will not only be able to learn with us, they will learn on a job that is teaching them all aspects of how to run a small business.
Any gift you can offer would be so appreciated, BUT, if you can dig a bit deeper, please consider:
Every $100, trains one more Mentor from the business world, so that he/she can help one of our students make a dream become reality
Every $250 buys the curriculum we will use for one more Entrepreneur-in-the-making
Every $500 you give allows us to put a tablet in that students’ hands because so many of our learners do not have a device that they will need to be successful in our program and beyond
Every $1,000 you give pays for us to help one more student-entrepreneur learn the skills necessary to start a small business of their own
This has been a tough year for everyone, but like that woman in California, we can take some solace in the work ahead of us. Our classrooms are our gardens. Let’s make these gardens thrive like never before.
Let’s do this. Let’s do this together!
Gabriel
Video Update: https://youtu.be/cLi5IQYWuFw