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My topic is regarding lower income students of all ages and making sure they can get proper access to resources such as school supplies, computers, food, and anything else that would influence their ability to learn at a high level.

The reason that there is need for action is because there is way too many students of all ages who are held back and cannot reach their potential because they lack school resources. As explained by the National Association of Secondary School Principals, “These factors often place more stress on a student, which can negatively impact the student’s ability to succeed in a school. Students living in poverty often have fewer resources at home to complete homework, study, or engage in activities that helps equip them for success during the school day” (NASSP, 2021). This shows the importance of giving students the correct resources to thrive.

In an article called Poverty and academic achievement across the urban to rural landscape: Associations with community resources and stressors, it is explained how detrimental a lack of resources can be for students. In the article, it states, “Almost thirteen million children in the United States live in poverty… The hardships faced by poor children are often compounded because they are more likely than their advantaged counterparts to live in economically disadvantaged, chaotic, and under resourced communities” (Miller et al., 2019). This shows how they are already behind just based on their environment. This is a huge problem because it snowballs as they grow as learners. An unstable foundation disables them from reaching their potential.

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This topic impacts me because in the future, I am going to be a teacher. I would like my future students to have the same access to resources such computers and school supplies as I did as a child. I am dedicated to the cause of getting kids access to resources to further their learning. As a young student, I feel that the things I had greatly improved my ability to learn and would like every student to have the same opportunity. It would not only benefit me, but help my future students.

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In order to gain help low-income students, there are a multitude of things that can be done. We could create an on-campus school supply drive. People would be able to donate whatever they can. In order to promote this, I could make signs around campus and make people aware of this drive.

The Kids in Need Foundation is dedicated to supporting kids with school supplies. They are partnered with many organizations and have supply drives. They say, “we strive to support that reality by providing underserved schools with the supplies and resources needed for teachers to teach and learners to learn” (Kids in Need Foundation, 2022). I could get in contact with them in order to get a supply drive going.

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References:

34,122 African children studying images, stock photos & vectors. Shutterstock. (n.d.). Retrieved November 3, 2022, from https://www.shutterstock.com/search/african-children-studying

Home - kids in need foundation it's more than just a backpack. Kids In Need Foundation. (2022, October 25). Retrieved November 3, 2022, from https://www.kinf.org/?gclid=CjwKCAjwzY2bBhB6EiwAPpUpZv0ekuEaBTLXex8RPOQhg-ApB2JrtEdtb5Y1lnU29GuWJLKEITCBaRoCZ0wQAvD_BwE

Miller, P., Votruba-Drzal, E., & Coley, R. L. (2019, March). Poverty and academic achievement across the urban to rural landscape: Associations with community resources and stressors. The Russell Sage Foundation journal of the social sciences : RSF. Retrieved November 3, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545987/

Peterson, S. (2020, September 17). Find affordable, full-day childcare while schools are closed: Office of Children and families. City of Philadelphia. Retrieved November 3, 2022, from https://www.phila.gov/2020-09-17-find-affordable-full-day-childcare-while-schools-are-closed/

Poverty and its impact on students' education. NASSP. (2021, March 8). Retrieved November 3, 2022, from https://www.nassp.org/poverty-and-its-impact-on-students-education/

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Matthew Grapin
FYE 304