KELSEYVILLE – Generous donors have fully funded a project request for classroom materials submitted by Mrs. Koschik, a ninth grade teacher at Kelseyville High School, according to the online education charity DonorsChoose.org.

The project is titled "Dissection Supplies for Human Anatomy " and it will provide health and life science resources and experiences for 14 students.

One generous donor contributed $178 in total to the project, which was matched with funds from a DonorsChoose.org grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Mrs. Koschik is among tens of thousands of teachers across the country who are turning to DonorsChoose.org to get the learning materials they and their students need.

"Too often, teachers lack critical resources in their classrooms – and in many instances they spend their own money trying to provide for their students," said Charles Best, founder and CEO of DonorsChoose.org. "Unfortunately, even hundreds of dollars out of pocket each year doesn't necessarily cover the costs of what's needed. That's where concerned citizens come in; anyone, regardless of means, can donate directly to project requests like Mrs. Koschik's at DonorsChoose.org."

Donations go twice as far for many of the project requests posted at DonorsChoose.org, including Mrs. Koschik's. DonorsChoose.org received a $4.1 million grant from the Gates Foundation in 2008 to support teachers who aim to promote college-readiness among students in high-need urban and rural public schools.

As Mrs. Koschik wrote in the project, "For the college bound student choosing a science major the skills in this lab activity will greatly help them in their future endeavors. All students will directly benefit because this may be as close as they ever get to peering into the human body."

In addition to Mrs. Koschik's project, there are currently 4 project requests in Kelseyville posted at DonorsChoose.org and in need of funding. They can be found by using DonorsChoose.org's search tool at www.donorschoose.org/donors/search.html .

Individual donors can contribute any dollar amount to these and thousands of other projects nationwide at DonorsChoose.org. Once a project is completely funded, a team at DonorsChoose.org will purchase the requested materials and send them to the teacher.

All donors will receive photos of the project taking place, a thank-you letter from the teacher, and a cost report showing how each dollar was spent. Donors who gave more than $100 will also receive hand-written thank-you letters from the students.

Any public school teacher can post a project request at DonorsChoose.org; those projects aimed at college-readiness in high-need or rural high-schools may be eligible for the Double Your Impact match.

To view Mrs. Koschik's funded project request, please visit www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=258472 .

Founded in 2000, DonorsChoose.org is a nonprofit Web site where public school teachers describe specific educational projects for their students, and donors can choose the projects they want to support. After completing a project, the donor hears back from the classroom they supported in the

form of photographs and student thank-you letters.

To date, 109,000 public and charter school teachers have used the site to secure funding for $39 million in books, art supplies, technology, and other resources that their students need to learn. Through www.donorschoose.org , individuals from all walks of life have helped 2.5 million students from low-income families.