Cents in Action: Carol Cabrera
Welcome to our second Cents in Action blog post. Every Sunday, we will be featuring an educator who has used our site to raise money for a school or classroom need. Last week, we featured Elizabeth Monda of Corning Achievement Elementary. You can check it out here if you missed it last week.
Meet Carol Cabrera of High Tech High in San Marcos, California. Carol is a Teach For America alum, and she taught at El Dorado High School in El Dorado, Arkansas for two years before returning to her home state of California. At High Tech High, a project based learning (PBL) school, Carol teaches 9th grade Humanities. She plans projects that run the gamut from building roller coasters to writing and staging plays.
Carol turned to PledgeCents for her funding needs when she wanted to give her students the opportunity to use professional equipment and a real stage to showcase the hard work they had put into writing their plays. She fell short of her $2,640 goal but did raise $1,599. As we explained in our last post, teachers on PledgeCents keep what they raise, no matter what. With this money, Carol's students were able to produce their plays, and the outcome was amazing.
Carol was kind enough to share some of her thoughts and experiences regarding teaching and PledgeCents. Here is just some of what she had to say!
How long have you been a teacher, and what is your favorite teaching moment from your career so far?
I’ve been a full time teacher for 3 years and am going into my 4th. My favorite teaching moment so far actually was the playwriting project that was funded by PledgeCents! I loved seeing what my students could create together using their imaginations.
How much of your own money do you think you have put toward your classroom and students in any given year, and what have you spent it on?
I’ve never really done the math (I’m a Humanities teacher and too often, numbers are lost on me). My accountant mother says that it’s way too much, though! I typically pay the field trip money for students who cannot afford it, and I buy supplies for students who can’t purchase the supplies on their own. I also stock up on mass supplies of paper, pencils, notebooks and other classroom necessities. Recently, I’ve spent a good amount of money publishing and copywriting great student work.
With so many fundraising options out there, why did you choose to work with the PledgeCents team?
It is SO easy. As teachers, we are so so so so so busy organizing field trips, making parent phone calls, lesson planning, grading and well, teaching! Fundraisers can take so much time--even the seemingly simple ones like bake sales. PledgeCents helped me let the student work and the projects speak for themselves.
If money weren’t an issue, what would be the top 3 things you would provide for your students?
- As many field trips as possible. Since money isn’t an option, international travel!!! I want my students to experience the world. I want the walls of my classroom to extend way past my four walls.
- A 3D printer. I’ve been drooling after one for a really long time but they’re crazy expensive. I do a lot of really hands on building projects, and it would be awesome if they could use what the pros use instead of messing around with exacto knives and cardstock all the time.
- A theatre. My school doesn’t have a theatre space and so I’ve had to be really creative about how my students create drama onstage without a stage of our own.
What are you planning on doing differently for your next cause? I think that I will get my students on board quicker. I have a lot of students who are awesome with video production and it would be awesome to get them in on the project description part.
(And, our very favorite question...) If you were one school supply what would you be and why?
I would be a black and white composition notebook! It’s like a blank canvas, except for writing. Every year is a new adventure, and I am always so excited to go on it with every new set of students. However, there’s an old school part of me that will always be so attached to the classics and to the fundamentals.
Thanks so much to Carol for sharing her experiences with us, and we wish her the best of luck for the upcoming school year!
