We believe every child in America should have equal opportunity and access to a quality education.
At KINF, we strive to support that reality by providing underserved schools with the supplies and resources needed for teachers to teach and learners to learn. Promoting equity in schools is an invaluable social investment that gives children a deeper perspective and knowledge about the world around them and empowers them to make wise decisions for their future.
This is why:
Because Education Matters
A quality education is the best gateway to opportunity and provides greater possibilities for students to achieve their full potential.
Education provides immense value to all individuals: career options, socialization, and a broadened perspective on oneself, their peers, and the world around them. Learning is a lifelong endeavor that is reinforced as students continue to grow.
Because Dignity Matters
It is crucial to champion the inherent dignity of kids and the quality experiences they can have throughout education.
School supplies and resources matter because they represent belonging and ownership of a student’s education and a teacher’s career. They empower underestimated students to recognize that they have choices and to make choices for themselves and their futures. For teachers facing rooms full of students struggling to break the cycle of poverty, supplies level the playing field so all students are prepared to learn when the bell rings.
Teachers Shepherd Our Future
When teachers are well-supported and appreciated, they have the ability to unlock the future potential of our nation: our children.
Teachers have a daily influence on tomorrow’s leaders and are the key to unlocking a student’s potential. They touch our society at every level and their impact can leave a legacy across several generations.
Adversary to Equality: The Opportunity Gap
The Opportunity Gap is defined as the set of circumstances that impact a student’s equitable chance to reach his or her full potential. These situational conditions into which a child is born include but are not limited to race, ethnicity, zip code, and socioeconomic status. While this vernacular is still relatively new to the general public, it has been a long-standing, systemic issue in education (Ghirdharie 2015).
To establish equity in education, the Opportunity Gap must be deconstructed. All students come to school from different backgrounds and have different needs. When teachers’ classrooms are stocked with essential school supplies, they can provide a conducive classroom experience for every student with the tools they need to be prepared, participate, and engage in learning. This also helps to build self-esteem and confidence, critical for students who are already painfully aware of the sizeable gap between the have’s and the have not’s. By addressing the Opportunity Gap, we work toward a more equal playing field and dismantle a generational cycle.
Our Core Pillars
When supplies are lacking, the quality of education is in jeopardy, and that affects future opportunities for children. We provide resources to the most under-resourced schools in America, allowing schools, students, and teachers to thrive.
Each year, Kids In Need Foundation works with its National Network of Resource Centers to survey the teachers we serve in our country’s most under-resourced schools and communities. This year, more than 11,500 teachers gave us a lens into their classrooms. Elementary (K-5th grade) was most frequently selected as grades taught by respondents and nearly 50 percent of respondents indicated that at least one of their subjects taught was English/language arts or math.
Our teachers are on the frontline of education and the valuable perspective they provide is instrumental in better serving them and their students. While, particularly over the last two years technology has solidified its role in the classroom, regardless of how far we think technology has taken us, year in and year out, core school supplies are still absolutely critical to their classrooms.
