Interview with Catherine White, Parent Association President, High Tech High Media Arts

This week we are proud to share insights from the President of the Parent Association at High Tech High Media Arts (HTHMA), Catherine White. HTHMA focuses on a college-going culture supported through a strong liberal arts and sciences foundation. The campus serves 400 students in grades 9-12 and was founded in 2005. The project-based curriculum enables students to "do and learn." As the Parent Association President, White has seen the kind of difference HTHMA has made in its students’ lives. She has continuously and actively showed support for HTHMA and its programs. With her role as President of the Parent Association, comes not only knowledge but also her first-hand experience in dealing with funding challenges. We had an opportunity to speak with Catherine about her role at the parent association, the difficulties of fundraising and why she feels that DonorNation is the solution.

DonorNation: What does the quality of education mean to you?

Catherine: A school provides an education when its students are learning. A school provides a quality education when its students are learning how to learn. I think of the phrase, "That's academic." The word "academic" makes you think of a conventional, classical education. But saying, "That's academic," means something that is theoretical without a practical purpose. I think you cannot call an education a quality education without having a value, i.e., a practical purpose. When a student learns how to learn, and can put that knowledge to practical purpose...I call that a quality education.

DonorNation: What is your opinion on the funding crisis facing schools today? How has it impacted High Tech Media Arts?

Catherine: I think that the funding crisis does not stem from a lack of funds, but rather from a lack of priority. California spends approximately seven times more on housing a prisoner per year than educating a child per year. I am a criminal defense attorney. I know these prisoners; they are my clients. The overwhelming majority of prisoners have a single common trait -- they grew up without a quality education. I see lives wasted every day because our state does not prioritize teaching our children how to think -- and especially how to think before acting with full regard to the consequences. The students in our schools today can either be our future thinkers, or my future clients. In my opinion, we need to choose education now over punishment later for lack of making educated decisions.

High Tech High Media Arts is a project-based school with brilliant teachers who think beyond the books, outside the box, beneath the oceans and into the skies. When funding is limited, our teachers are limited. It's that simple. Why would we allow that to happen? We move mountains to get our children into HTHMA, and then tell the teachers, "Sorry, but we don't have the money to allow you to be brilliant with our children." I don't think so. Not only does that defeat the entire purpose of HTHMA, but demoralizes the teachers and students. I think that we must do everything in our power -- and in our pocketbooks -- to ensure that our teachers' wishes and dreams for our students come true.

DonorNation: What are the biggest challenges you face with fundraising?

Catherine: Fighting the thought that "someone else" will do it.  The parents that give their time, energy and money to fundraising efforts are a small percentage of the 100 percent participation that we need. If everyone gave -- even in the smallest of ways -- we would not have a fundraising problem. It takes a village, right?

DonorNation: Why did you decide to use DonorNation as a fundraising platform?

Catherine: The concept of DonorNation is brilliant. Neighbor-helping-neighbor? Come on! What better way to activate the resources of our community than to integrate our community's individuals and businesses with the education of our community's students? The quality of our city is the quality of our citizens. Our students are our future citizens, so why would we all not want to have a stake in that?

DonorNation: How do you feel DonorNation will help High Tech Media Arts?

Catherine: What is the downside? I mean, not only do we raise funds for the school, but we also teach the students that we are a community that puts its hope and faith in them. I don't know a single child who doesn't flourish when told that they matter and that they matter a great deal. That's what DonorNation tells our children -- your education matters so much that we are willing to make sure you get the best by making it part of our everyday lives. DonorNation allows us to make it our daily business to tell our students how much they matter to us. It's not just a hope for them, it's a reality for them.

DonorNation: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us, Catherine. 

Find out how schools are raising valuable funds by using our marketplace.

Our Hearts Go Out to the Families of Sandy Hook Elementary School

Schools are a place for learning, inspiration and discovery. It is a place where kids deserve to be safe. The tragedy that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School is incomprehensible. Our hearts go out to all of the families at the school and the community of Newtown, Connecticut.

Learn About Fundraising on Auto-Pilot with DonorNation

A big thanks to La Jolla Mom for her blog post on DonorNation. Read the full post here.

Inspirational Poem: "How to Really Love a Child"

We came across the poem, "How to Really Love a Child," by SARK (Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy) and thought it was so touching we would share it with you... 

HOW TO REALLY LOVE A CHILD

Be there.
Say yes as often as possible.
Let them bang on pots and pans.
If they’re crabby, put them in water.
If they’re unlovable, love yourself.
Realize how important it is to be a child.
Go to a movie theater in your pajamas.
Read books out loud with joy.
Invent pleasures together.
Remember how really small they are.
Giggle a lot.
Surprise them.
Say no when necessary.
Teach feelings.
Heal your own inner child.
Learn about parenting.
Hug trees together.
Make loving safe.
Bake a cake and eat it with no hands.
Go find elephants and kiss them.
Plan to build a rocket ship.
Imagine yourself magic.
Make lots of forts with blankets.
Let your angel fly.
Reveal your own dreams.
Search out the positive.
Keep the gleam in your eye.
Mail letters to God.
Encourage silly.
Plant licorice in your garden.
Open up.
Stop yelling.
Express your love.
A lot.
Speak kindly.
Paint their tennis shoes.
Handle with caring.
Children are miraculous!

- SARK

DonorNation Advisor Profile: Danielle Strachman

This week we are proud to share our first advisor profile featuring Danielle Strachman who has led and designed education programs for the last 10 years. In 2002 she started an educational consulting business serving the homeschooling community. It was this group of passionate and driven young people who inspired her to cofound Innovations Academy in 2006, a public K-8 charter school in San Diego, which she led for 4 years. Currently, she leads the design and operations of the Thiel Fellowship program and also sits on the board of Innovations Academy.

With her deep experience in the field of education, she intimately understands the struggles of public school finances and is excited to advise DonorNation. Danielle gives us further insight as to why there is a great need for DonorNation. 

DonorNation: You clearly have a drive to transform education. What does quality of education mean to you?

Danielle: I feel that giving each child the one-on-one time they need and differentiated instruction is integral to the quality of education offered in schools. This means smaller classroom sizes and extra support for each class of students, such as teacher aids. Some children may need extra attention and support with special learning needs while another child may need extra stimulation and challenge. Funding ensures that children will have the appropriate classroom size and one-on-one time with their teacher.

DonorNation: Given your background as an educational consultant, a founder of Innovations Academy Charter School and now as Program Director of the Thiel Fellowship, what is your opinion on the funding crisis facing American Public Schools today?

Danielle: Initially, I knew that the funding crisis existed, however, I did not know how severe it truly was until I founded the Innovations Academy. From the outside, you think, "Well schools are still open, they aren't closing therefore everything must be okay - schools are getting by." However, after running the charter school I learned quickly how you are constantly living by the moment unsure of what is going to happen next. You really don't know when a payment for $60,000 will be deferred leaving you scrambling to figure out how to pay your teachers' salaries, supplies or purchase the new computers promised for the classroom.

(Above: Children playing during recess at the Innovations Academy.)

We went through a period where my colleague and I would forgo our own paychecks in order to pay for our teachers. We had to request supplies from our parents with “paper-towel week” and so forth. It was embarrassing. I saw first-hand how difficult it is to depend on state funding...it is unstable and leaves us in a state of constant flux.

DonorNation: Danielle, you recently joined DonorNation’s Advisory Board. What attracted you to the position?

Danielle: Honestly, I have seen other companies try to create funding programs for schools with the best of intentions, however, each has been labor and time intensive and they all require great amounts of energy. Also, these types of programs were asking not only for time, but also money. With that said, I was impressed that DonorNation took a different approach. They are not asking parents to do anything that they are not already doing since many parents already shop online. There is no asking for extra time, energy, labor or spending. This is the first fundraising tool that I see with potential. All of the programs I have seen thus far had the right intention, however, none of them had a solution like DonorNation.

DonorNation: Why do you feel our mission is important?

Danielle: I feel that DonorNation could potentially be the missing puzzle piece and exactly what schools need. If DonorNation can crack the code for our current issue of funding then schools would have the constant stream of funding that they need. The platform seems to have the potential to be like amazon...ultimately being a powerful resource for each and every school.

DonorNation has created a stable funding platform where schools are no longer subject to unreliable government funding and being at the mercy of their cuts and deferments. At the very least, schools can utilize DonorNation to fundraise for specific programs or needs. I especially think it's great that you can be anywhere and still donate to the school of your choice. For example, even though I live in San Francisco, I still can donate to my charter school in San Diego. Furthermore, as the donor, you can have a direct impact. You know where your donation is going as opposed to it being filtered through a district. You can tell your family and friends to shop online and make a positive impact directly on the schools you care about most.

Furthermore, the DonorNation platform is also a huge win for businesses that want to do good in their community. Instead of expending time building partnerships, businesses can now concentrate on promoting their products and services on the DonorNation marketplace and let their customers funnel the businesses' donations to their favorite school(s).

DonorNation: Thank you Danielle for taking the time to share your insights with us.

DonorNation Brings Back the Concept of the Neighborhood Unit

The vision of a neighborhood as defined in the 1950’s and ‘60's by shows like Leave it to Beaver and Mr. Roger’s, where people borrowed sugar and eggs from their neighbors, disappeared in large part with black and white television. With the advent of the Internet, doors became windows. Through sites like Facebook, and Twitter, communities are now virtual and consist of people from all over the world. Due to technology, we are more connected today than ever before, yet in many physical respects, we have never been so disconnected. There’s no denying the concept of the neighborhood has changed.

In the early 1900s, Clarence Perry crystalized the concept of the neighborhood unit. The concept organized new residential communities in a way which satisfied contemporary "social, administrative and service requirements for satisfactory urban existence." Neighborhoods were originally designed to help protect the health, safety and welfare of its citizens and centered the neighborhood around the school. The neighborhood unit was conceived as a comprehensive physical planning tool which promoted a community-centric lifestyle. The child's walk to school was only about one-quarter of a mile and school facilities were utilized for neighborhood meetings and activities, ultimately designed for use by the entire community. Initially, the concept of the neighborhood was meant to foster social cohesion.

The concept of neighbor-helping-neighbor is a powerful one and deserves to make a come-back. DonorNation gets back to the roots of the original neighborhood unit by emphasizing the importance of local schools and businesses at the heart of the community. We have created a self-sustaining vehicle for communities to continuously support local business and schools through regular purchases. Our model creates a "giving loop" where community members support local businesses, local businesses support schools, and schools support the community through quality education for our children.

DonorNation provides communities with the service, resources and tools to unlock the power of their neighborhoods. Our vision of the future is a nation of donors, where neighbor-helps-neighbor, to collectively address one of the nation's greatest challenges, ensuring quality education for our children, while building and sustaining local communities.

In the DonorNation marketplace, profit means purpose and buying means giving. With each transaction you will be investing in the
lives of children in your community through education, by empowering schools with a new, sustainable model for fundraising. Further, you will be supporting businesses who are dedicated to the greater good.

To realize this vision, we must  return to the old school concept of the neighborhood unit.  It will make Mr. Rogers, in his cardigan sweater, proud.

                                                             Join us.