E-commerce program allows donors to give classes what they need

Eager first-graders giggled and groaned as they plucked and tweezed sought-after skulls and bones from regurgitated owl pellets to learn more about what owls eat.

The dissections are part of five hands-on interactive stations emphasizing critical thinking and problem solving in a woodland animals unit taught at Lawrence Township Schools' Forest Glen Elementary in Indianapolis. While the most popular workstation of the day, it's not a project the first-grade classes can afford to do every year.

"If we didn't have a special donation for this project, we would not have been able to provide this hands-on opportunity," said Judy Canfield, Forest Glen first-grade teacher. "Like school districts across the country, ours can't fund as many interactive projects as we would like."

The project was funded through donations to the district foundation’s WishList, an innovative e-commerce program developed by eTapestry, a Web-based nonprofit software company.

"We need to be investing more in classroom resources," said NEA spokeswoman Denise Cardinal. "Our members want classrooms that are inviting to students and bring learning alive. Those are extra expenses that school districts can’t afford to provide for teachers. Teachers are willing to go into their own pockets to provide resources to make these havens for students."

Some teachers even purchase coats, hats and gloves for students whose families can’t afford them, she said.

The NEA is working to make the $250 tax deduction for teacher out-of-pocket classroom expenses permanent to provide teachers some relief. The credit currently expires in 2005.

"Schools are having to account for the changes in the American family," Cardinal said. "A lot more demands are being put on schools and teachers to fill these needs, especially for students in low economic areas."

Schools and those who support them are increasingly turning to alternative sources of funding for basic needs.

Forest Glen was able to buy its owl pellets because an Internet-savvy mom made a classroom donation through the school township foundation. The program, called WishList, was first developed for Christie Love, executive director of the Lawrence Township School Foundation.

The Lawrence Township School Foundation noticed that teachers were increasingly asking for funding of "basic supplies," rather than grants for the innovative programming the foundation was established to support.

"We really wanted something we could do online that could become a community building piece," Christie Love said. "I knew there were so many people in the community who had good feelings about the school district and wanted to help, but they had no way to connect."

Love talked to her husband, Jay, CEO of eTapestry, a company that works with more than 4,000 nonprofit organizations. The eTapestry team developed the e-commerce solution that works similar to baby and bridal registries and created e-commerce abilities for the Lawrence Township School Foundation's Web site, www.msdltf.org.

"Parents, alumni and businesses can now donate items to school classrooms as easily and quickly as they buy gifts on Amazon.com," said Jay Love. "Donors can direct online donations to specific classrooms or pay for specific 'wish' items the classes have listed."

Classes and schools in Lawrence Township have asked for donations as large as a greenhouse and gymnasium air conditioning, to electronics such as digital cameras and scanners. Most of the classrooms also ask for everyday items like Post-It notes, plastic bags and poster boards.

Some large items, such as multi-use scanners, have already been purchased, said Christie Love.

The mother of one teacher ordered his classroom five magnifying glasses in honor of the teacher's birthday. An elementary school student, with permission to use her mother’s credit card, purchased a $3.40 hand sanitizer for her teacher to show her appreciation.

"I'm telling parents that instead of getting teachers another ceramic apple or an ornament for this holiday season, that they should think about using the WishList to buy them some school supplies for their classroom," said Christie Love.

For more information on WishList from eTapestry, contact them at 888-739-3827, email them at info@eTapestry.com, or visit them online at www.etapestry.com.