Raising four children (ages 19, 17, 13 and 11) and having had a child attend all 4 schools in our district (sometimes, ALL at the same time) my husband and I are very supportive of public education.
I feel it safe to say that (next to being a parent) teaching is one of the hardest jobs that everyone else thinks they can do....better.
I have volunteered for many school programs over the last 13 years, my favorite being: working with the Art Appreciation Committee as a Picture Parent, introducing children to famous works of art, artists and their preferred mediums.
Unfortunately, volunteering opportunities have declined as my children entered the middle grades (even more so in high school): and cutbacks to school budgets are often eliminating the types of innovative programming (like art and music) that help enrich and enhance our children's education.
Thankfully, the kids in our school district benefit through generous donations and grants which fund educational programs: such as, learning through the use of Promethean presenters (an interactive white board) and helping to expand music appreciation with Instruments Out of the Attic, where teachers collect and refurbish old musical instruments and provide them to economically disadvantaged students.
As a mother 3 teens (and one soon-to-be-teen), I know how important school programs are to a child's experience. That's why I'm working with Clorox's Power A Bright Future K-12 school grant program to get parents and their teens (13 and older) to vote and help schools win grants up to $50,000.
Care to help a school out?!? EXCELLENT!!!
- One Grand-prize $50,000 grant
- Three $25,000 Category winner grants (One winner will be selected by popular vote in each category; Play, Create and Explore)
- Three $25,000 Judge's pick grants (A panel of Clorox judges will select one winner based on merit in each category)
Here's how you AND YOUR TEEN can help: from November 12 to December 19, 2012, anyone 13 and older can vote online and via text -- a great way to get your older kids involved in helping their classmates and/or younger kids out, yes?
Visit www.powerabrightfuture.com from a computer or mobile phone to do it, or visit the site to find your favorite school's text to vote code. You can vote once online and once by text every day.
Voting ends December 19, 2012 and the winners will be announced later this year.
Here's how to help encourage teens to vote:
- Disney's Bella Thorne of "Shake it Up" is sharing her photos on Instagram (@bellathornelovesyou)
- Kids 13 and older can share photos showing how a grant would make a difference for their school and community at a special Power A Bright Future! Instagram Contest
- (Y.O.L.O. = You Only Learn Once): photos must be tagged #yolopabf to be eligible for consideration.
Oh and, be sure to check out Clorox on Facebook and Clorox on Twitter, YOLO!!!
© 2003 - 2012 This Full House
Disclosure: I am being compensated by The Clorox Company to talk about the Power A Bright Future school grant program. As always, all opinions are mine and I am more than happy to participate in stuff to help schools.
