Right now, budgets are extremely limited in schools. At my son’s school, nurse teachers were cut, librarians let go, and many programs slashed. Thanks to this and other local issues, the school has been on the chopping block year after year. Below is a photo of my son last year at a rally to save his school (something no child should ever need to go to).

Our school is currently trying to implement a gifted and talent program for students that need to advance in their studies and have enrichment. The problem – no money. Parents like myself are trying to help and research items to use in the school that are cost-effective and will not burden the teachers any more than they already are. It is a very trying time to say the least, especially as the parent of a child that needs this programing.

Our PTA works hard to supplement the school with field trips, speakers and other programs for the students. Together, as a team, we work to better the educational experience for our children. I have to admit that we are very lucky that we have a groups of parents that genuinely care and come into the school to volunteer their time. This year, I am hoping to assist more in the classrooms as well. As a certified reading teacher, I hope to volunteer and help children that need a little more help with their literacy skills. With my little guy in nursery school a few days, I can do this and it always feels amazing to see the twinkle in a child’s eyes when they have an "ah-ha" moment.

So what can we do to help our school? First, go to your school join the PTA, ask your child’s teacher or principal how you can help. Perhaps sending in extra classroom supplies, working in the lunch room, or assisting with another item would help. Of course, companies like Bing are trying to help. Bing just announced their "Our School Needs" program. Here is a video about the submission process for the program.

General info about Our School Needs:

How the Our School Needs Contest Works

We want to hear from teachers and students about what their school needs most. Look around your school and think about how it would benefit from winning $100,000.

What To Do

Students can work in groups, classes, or even school-wide to write an essay and take pictures finishing the sentence "Our School Needs: ___________." To enter:

1. Write an essay (500 to 800 words)
2. Take pictures (3 to 5 photos)
3. Film a video (not required, but fun! Maximum of 3 minutes in length)

Who Can Enter

Any student or teacher from a K-12 school can enter. While students under 18 are encouraged to create the entry, a parent, legal guardian or a teacher must submit it.

What Could Our School Win?

Bing will award a quarter-million dollars, divided among four schools—$50,000 to three first-prize winners, and one $100,000 grand prize.

Categories

Schools will be broken out into 3 categories, K-6, 7-9 and 10-12. The top-voted entry in each category will be awarded a first prize of $50,000. The entry that receives the largest number of overall votes during the voting phase will receive the grand prize of $100,000.

To read more information about the Bing My School Needs contest, please go to their web site. I know that I will be forwarding this to my son’s school in hopes that we can apply and ease some of the yearly fears about keeping our school open and programs within it. Don’t forget, the last day to enter is Friday, October 22!

Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Bing and received a DonorsChoose.org giving code and a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.