by Victoria Usher
Betsy and Maritza are two extremely kind and strong mothers who both came up with the idea to write a very specific grant. Pacific High School is a project based learning school. Betsy and Maritza are involved in a project known as SPARK. SPARK is a project where you choose your own passion and then create a project out of that passion. Both Betsy and Maritza have 1-year-old little boys who attend the on campus children’s daycare called First Steps where there is a playground outside. Unfortunately the playground lacks equipment that is suitable for their young toddlers and also for infants who attend First Steps. This is what truly inspired these two mothers to come up with the wonderful idea to raise money in order to have an all ages friendly playground for everyone who attends First Steps. They are both truly passionate about making sure that all of the children that come to First Steps have an all-around happy and healthy environment and a large part of that includes having an appropriate playground for them.
Betsy and Maritza both had ideas such as fundraisers and bake sales but they decided that writing up a grant might be a better idea. Once they had made the final decision to write the grant they then contacted Diann Block to get her help in guiding them through the process. “What is truly impressive is that this is a student driven idea that they passionately pursued into a grant that the public can help fund,” said Diann Block, Teacher at Pacific High School.
DonorsChoose has actually come out with a student grant where teachers help students in creating a grant. When Betsy and Maritza discovered this they both thought it was a great idea and decided to go for it. Bill Gates and Staples even combined their efforts in order to match funds for this grant!
These two mothers have such a strong love for their children and want them and the rest of the children at First Steps to have a great experience. It’s a truly beautiful thing to see people with so much passion for this type of selfless change. They have very recently reached the target goal for their grant which is an amazing achievement and everyone involved is thrilled about it. If you would like to learn more about this exciting grant and maybe even donate then please take a moment to read it over (lots of look entering this)!
