Today, the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) officially launches the allocation of $12 million in COVID-19 relief funds to directly help K-12 public school educators get classroom resources for the school year through DonorsChoosehttp://www.donorschoose.org/, a nonprofit crowdfunding website. The collaboration between USBE and DonorsChoose is the largest of its kind to date in the nation and will provide Utah educators with up to $1,000 in funding for their projects, empowering them to support their students' success with classroom resources.

As part of the partnership with USBE, DonorsChoose will ensure any requests for instructional materials align with the Utah Core Standards. For any requests for non-instructional items, DonorsChoose will confirm that projects relate to one of the four main goal areas identified in USBE's strategic plan: safe and healthy schools; early learning; personalized learning; and effective teachers and leaders.

Any Utah full-time equivalent K-12 public school employee who spends the majority of their time directly educating or counseling students is eligible to create a project. Eligible projects are anticipated to be funded within one week of posting. Projects will be funded up to $1,000 in total costs for student-focused resources.

USBE will begin funding eligible requests on a first-come, first-served basis beginning January, 18, 2021 and for as long as funding is available. Educators can learn how to create an eligible DonorsChoose project in the organization's Help Centerhttps://help.donorschoose.org/hc/en-us/articles/4415576238487. https://schools.utah.gov/file/dcd2837d-f3b8-4bae-9d9f-ffd3b9eafdae

Naomi Watkins, Ph.D. Secondary ELA and Library Media Specialist Utah State Board of Education 801-538-7616