Waiting for Proactive Ways to Improve Your Child’s Education?

by Mom It Forward on December 4th, 2010 | No Comments »

Many of us want to be diligent parents when it comes to our children's education. We sign up to be room parents, we serve on the PTA, we read with our kids, and we spend long, teeth-grinding hours helping them with their homework. Many of us even investigate schools, studying demographics, test scores, teacher-to-student ratios, etc. And why shouldn't we? This is our children we're talking about, little beings that we made and for whom we have the privilege of caring. Then we send them off to school and hope that they get the education we know they'll need in order to make it in this tough world. We hope, we cross our fingers, maybe we pray, and then we wait.

If you've seen the film "Waiting for Superman," you know that many parents wait in vain. You may be one of them. The film, produced by Academy-award-winner David Guggenheim, presents a bleak picture of America's education system. The cast is made up of five real students from different walks of life and states. The plot shows that, despite their determination, "the reality is that most of [them]...will be barred from a chance at what was once taken for granted: a great American education. The "climax" is the revelation of a group of education reformers "currently defying the odds."

Instead of being disheartened by the film's portrayal of our schools, Borders, the superstore bookstore chain and publisher of the movie's companion book, was inspired to collaborate with DonorsChoose.org, an Internet-based, education-oriented online charity, to raise money for public schools. On Saturday, Dec. 4 and Sunday, Dec. 5, any Borders customer making an in-store purchase, whether of a book or a bagel or a latte, will receive a $15 gift card to donate to a public school of choice through DonorsChoose.org, an Internet-based charity. Anyone purchasing the book "Waiting for 'Superman': How We Can Save America's Failing Public Schools" will receive a second $15 card.

For those of us want to diligently further our children's education, this is one proactive, mutually-beneficial way to do so. For more information, check out this article, Borders' Teaching Zone, or call your local Borders store.