Direct-to-educator funding invests in solutions designed by those closest to the issues schools, students, and families face

The Amplify community, which includes hundreds of educators of color from across the Kansas City region, erupted in cheers when four Kansas City schools each won $25,000 – a $10,000 DonorsChoose gift card and a $15,000 grant from the Kauffman Foundation – to fund school projects. Educators from Brookside Charter School, Hogan Preparatory Academy, Kansas City Girls Preparatory Academy, and North Kansas City High School were selected to present their visionary projects at the EduTank Pitch Event during the Amplify conference, Nov. 10-11.

Amplify, hosted by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Amplify Community Advisory Committee, and now in its seventh year, seeks to engage and support educators of color in the Kansas City community.

The EduTank event executed direct-to-educators funding investing in solutions designed by those closest to the issues schools, students, and families face – sending money straight to the students and the classrooms.

“Teachers are the frontline workers in education but seldom have easy access to the needed classroom resources,” said Trese Booze, senior director at the Kauffman Foundation. “It is critically important that they have access to books, equipment, and other educational materials that support student success without having to go through endless processes.” 

Learn more about the four proposals and how they will impact Kansas City students.

A place to feel safe at school

At Brookside Charter School, they have a “recovery room” currently used for in-school suspension as well as a place where students can step away if the school day becomes overwhelming. However, educator Monique Young wants to evolve the space to not only be for recovery, but prevention. A space with the resources, quiet space, and support to maintain positive mental health.

“Changing practices in schools that don’t perpetuate the school-to-prison pipeline has been a passion for me. When I first started as a school counselor, I didn’t really know about strategies or things we do in schools that are harmful,” she said. “I just want people to get out there and educate themselves and be open to new ideas.”

Brandi Watkins, dean of students at Brookside Charter, says the services they provide at school extend to the families as well. “If we can be more successful in the recovery room, then our families are going to be more successful too and feel safe at school.”

‘Readers read and writers write’

Hogan Preparatory School does not have a library. With the opportunity to present at the EduTank Pitch Event, educator Dayonne Richardson knew exactly what her pitch would be: turn an office space that had just opened up at Hogan Prep Elementary into a library.

“Readers read and writers write,” she told her students. “What better way to equip them with those skills than giving them books, giving them opportunity,” Richardson said.

She wants the library to be an oasis. “I want it to be a space where they can come in, and it’s calm, and come in and just cuddle up with a book.”

But it’s more than that. “My district, we’ve been adamant about trying to change the narrative and shape the experience for our students, and I feel like a library makes our school feel like a home.”

Step into community

At Kansas City Girls Preparatory Academy, teacher and coach Jacquinta Nelson understands how step dance has played a role in creating a community. “The power of stepping is one that brings unity and the community together. It’s not just a dance form, it’s a way to collaborate,” Nelson said.

Nelson teaches a step class at KC Girls Prep. But in order to keep the school’s step community thriving and growing, and to take her class to the next level, Nelson wants to outfit her classroom with a wall of mirrors, purchase creative applications and equipment to bring marketing and branding into the curriculum, and purchase a 15-passenger van to eliminate transportation barriers for her team at KC Girls prep and the team she coaches on Saturdays with girls from across the city.

“If I wasn’t the transportation person, or if they did not have that bus, 95% of my girls would not be on this team. Ninety-five percent of my girls would have never met, and they would have not built that community,” Nelson said.

A Culture House to uplift the Black community

The Black Student Union at North Kansas City High School pitched a Culture House; a hub where students can get needed school supplies, college-prep support, and connect with Black professionals in the community.

“We’re calling it a ‘Culture House’ just because it’s collectively a place where students know they can get those needs filled,” said Amber Washington, an administrator at North Kansas City High School.

The Culture House is a significant step for the Black Student Union in its mission to uplift the Black community at North Kansas City High School.

“We’re the most diverse high school in the state of Missouri,” NKC student SaDerra Gill said. “The access to having those resources is going to create a gateway to success.”

Click through the photo slideshow below: