My children's elementary school has a huge boulder that sits just off the road and next to the bus drop off. You can donate a dollar and rent the boulder to paint or decorate for any occasion. At first I thought it was crazy but I was completely wrong. The kids love having their birthday announced on the rock and the artwork that gets displayed every morning is amazing. Most times the parents surprise the kids by painting the night before and watching their reaction in the morning, the money goes towards pto events like carnivals, dances, etc... Funny backstory, it was her first pto meeting as we had just moved to town so I think she was trying to make friends. She comes home and explains the idea about the rock, I laughed it off and said good luck with that. She started laughing and informed me that somehow I had volunteered to somehow find and deliver a giant rock to the school. Bear in mind I have no rock, truck, or backhoe. Luckily we called the County Highway Dept and shamed them into helping out, they said they came across them all the time and would gladly deliver next time they came across one. Maybe something to consider.

Teacher always said, 'Show your work.' Here's those two houses. Kind of interesting for me: the Peoria house is on what used to be called 'High Wines Road,' where the Peoria whiskey distillers all lived, which is why the district is crowded with beautiful old homes like this. I look forward to seeing your pictures. The house in Peoria, via Google maps. The house in Muskegon, via Google Maps.

A lot of what we have is grassroots organized. I recall when my son was in 6th grade a team he was on had practice starting at 4PM daily. School got out at 2:25. If he took the bus home, he arrived home at 3:15, and would have to turn around and i would drive him to the field. This impacted him and about 6 other kids that lived out in the country. Another mother and I asked the school for a room, and we rotated meeting there with the boys, bringing an afterschool snack. Kids did homework or played board games, or we went on the fields with frisbees and such if it was nice. We have bike 'train' that facilitates kids that live far out having a safe way to bike to school. The 'train' has stations where kids join or depart. They also have fun rides. We have 'in the gym' after school activities, these vary but there is hula hooping, kazoo band, volleyball, obstacle course, etc. School libraries are open for 2 hours after end of school day to provide a place for study and hanging out. Town library is awesome. School bus drops off at the YMCA in the next town, so you can get there, but you will need to figure out how to get home.

In NYC, parent fundraising efforts are not allowed to pay directly for teachers. What they can do is pay for extras. For example, Studio in the School is an amazing art program that has a working artist trained to teach come into classrooms weekly, usually for the full school year. The classroom teacher is present and supporting the artist/teacher. The classroom teacher is also provided professional development. Another such program is Bank Street Colleges, The Emotionally Responsive Classroom. Parents can also pay for supplies, trips, freeing up money for more staff. A district, I believe District 3 in Manhattan is a story of the haves and have nots. Some schools, on the Upper West Side, raise incredible amounts of money. However, further uptown in Harlem, the parents can't necessarily do the same. A group of parents in the more affluent schools started a campaign to pool all the various schools PTAs' money and share it equally. I am not sure what the end results were. It was on the news for several weeks and I believe some monies were shared. It is my belief that unfortunately, many just can't understand how hard life is for some. That asking even for a $1 donation is beyond some people's abilities. I personally have witnessed children taking extra free lunches when no one was looking so their siblings would have something to eat that night. It isn't just the poverty, it is the mental health strain that just wears people down. Children desperately need sports programs for many reasons, including nurturing self-regulation and trauma relief. It would be wonderful if we as a society could see that all children had equal access to such programs.