Cents In Action: Walking in Memphis
Cents in Action: Guest blog post by Ashley Miles (Aurora Collegiate Academy - Memphis, TN)
We put on our blue suede shoes and took a trip down to Elvis' home, Memphis! This week, we are highlighting the great work that Ashley Miles (Curriculum and Instructional Fellow at Aurora Collegiate Academy) is doing with her students every single day!
Ashley was able to raise over $500 in a short amount of time with her first cause on PledgeCents! We want to highlight her experience on PledgeCents with her raw feedback to some of our questions.
1. How long have you been a teacher, and what is your favorite teaching moment from your career so far?
I was a teacher for two years and now I serve as the Curriculum and Instructional Fellow at the same school at which I previously taught. My favorite teaching moment was when my first graders used the skills we had been building with the scientific method to conduct and analyze a variety of experiments. One of the experiments, the Egg Drop, required students to use specified materials to protect an egg before it was dropped eight feet. It was great watching my scholars work in teams and apply their knowledge in a hands-on, messy experiment!
2. 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?
Last year, I spent probably $300 on my classroom and scholars. This went towards additional curriculum resources to support classroom instruction, books for our classroom library, and additional supplies, such as dry erase markers and composition notebooks, that were not readily available at our school.
3. With so many fundraising options out there, why did you choose to work with the PledgeCents team?
I chose to work with the PledgeCents team, because I had never tried crowd-sourced fundraising methods before and PledgeCents made it user-friendly. As an educator, there are so many priorities running concurrently, but I never felt that my PledgeCents cause took up too much of my time. The website did a great job of walking me through the directions step-by-step and helping me understand what I could do to make my cause successful. Additionally, the team was quick to respond to any questions I had along the way!
4. What did you personally do to market your cause? What worked? What didn’t work?
I initially shared the cause with the staff members on my team and explained to them how the cause, purchasing guided reading books for five grade levels, was going to help our scholars reach their reading goals this year. I then shared the link on our school Facebook page, I shared it on my personal Facebook page, and then my fellow staff members also shared it on their Facebook pages. I found that just through sharing it, we were able to gain huge exposure as one share led to the cause being shared by other friends. We met our goal in only 7 days!
5. How was your experience with PledgeCents? What did you like? Not like?
I had a great experience with PledgeCents! I liked that PledgeCents allowed me flexibility in creating my cause. I was purchasing guided reading books from a variety of places, as there were different deals at different companies. I was able to pick where I wanted to purchase my books from, without having to go through a specific distributor or pick just one source. When my cause was finished, the check arrived at school very quickly and I was able to purchase the books we needed before our second quarter.
6. What would be your advice to another teacher who is considering using PledgeCents?
There is nothing to lose by giving it a try! The PledgeCents team has great ideas for how to spread word about your cause and they are truly invested in helping you get what you need for your students. And, if your cause doesn’t get fully funded, PledgeCents still sends you a check for however much you have fundraised, so you can purchase part of what you need for your classroom.
7. What is the best thing about being an educator, and where do you find your inspiration?
The best part about being an educator is seeing the impact you make on helping to mold a child into a strong member of their community. As a first grade teacher, I taught my scholars the foundations of reading and math, but I also taught them the character values of kindness, generosity, and helping their neighbor. It was rewarding to see these values carried out in our classroom community and to know that they would use these lessons as they continued to grow. I find my inspiration in my scholars, particularly our large ESL population. Our school has scholars who immigrated to the United States as children and it inspires me to continue to work hard for educational equality when I see how hard they work to learn a new language and to be academically successful in this new, second language.
If you have any questions, email us at info@pledgecents.com.
