**UPDATE (7/8/10)** Thanks to your amazing support, we have reached our goal of $5000 to send our education toolkit to 1000 classrooms throughout New York City! Our fundraiser will continue until July 15th, with any additional funds going to support the Tribute WTC Visitor Center's education program. We can't thank you all enough for helping us inspire thousands of New York City school children with stories of strength, compassion and peace!
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**UPDATE (6/24/10)** We have received a matching donation from our very own Tribute guardian angel! Once we reach $2500 it will be doubled to $5000, assuring that 1000 classrooms in the New York City area will have access to our educational materials. Any extra funds raised will go to support further Tribute Center educational initiatives. Your response has been incredible so far – let’s keep it up and help inspire thousands of New York City students!
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The Tribute WTC Visitor Center's mission focuses on education as the key to a better tomorrow. Now that a new generation has been born into a post 9/11 world, educators recognize that September 11th is a part of our history and want to talk about its relevance to our lives today. A new educational resource, September 11th Personal Stories of Transformation, is geared towards giving middle school and high school students a deeper understanding of September 11th through exploring the stories of individuals who were deeply impacted and who responded by creating projects to better their communities. These materials, which include videos, critical thinking questions, classroom resource links and community service projects, are available at www.tributewtc.org/programs/toolkit.html.
These materials are free online, but not all schools have access to the internet in their classrooms. Therefore, the Tribute Center is planning to circulate CDs of the videos and materials to 1000 middle and high school classrooms across the New York City area that cannot access them online. Students will receive a disc of eight video units and a helpful guide for teachers including goals, related classroom resources, learning standards and suggested service projects.
Every $5 donation will allow another classroom of 26 students to be inspired by diverse members of the 9/11 community, including a principal who led her students to safety, a father who spent nine months at the site looking for his son and fallen friends, and a Pakistani man who became a voice for his community during a time of persecution and confusion. Our final goal of $5,000 will insure that 1000 classrooms across the New York City area will have access to these inspirational personal stories. We need to raise this money by July 15th so that 1000 discs can be in the hands of the teachers by this September 11th.
The Tribute Center has such a wonderful, active online community, and we know this goal of $5,000 is well within reach. Please donate today and help us bring the essential lessons of September 11th into New York City classrooms.