This school year, teachers are relying on community support more than ever before. As living rooms become classrooms and learning plans head outdoors, educators—and parents—have had to get creative in their efforts to provide safe and productive learning spaces for kids. There are many unique challenges that come with this adjustment, but access to the proper supplies has become particularly important as teachers find ways to connect with students in new environments.
That’s why Amazon is celebrating the heroes who educate kids in our communities by providing the supplies they need to carry out the 2020 school year—no matter what that looks like. From printers and routers for those teaching from home, to air filters and hand sanitizer for teachers heading back to the classroom, we’re working to help educators, parents, and students have a successful and safe school year.
Below are some ways Amazon is supporting teachers.
Supporting #ClearTheList with Courtney Jones and the ClearTheList Foundation
Courtney Jones, CEO and founder of the ClearTheList Foundation and #ClearTheListTexas schoolteacher, Courtney Jones, started #ClearTheList as a social media movement in 2019. Jones hoped the initiative would raise awareness for the lack of supplies in classrooms and help teachers access important items on their Amazon Wish Lists. This movement paved the way for Jones to create the ClearTheList Foundation, an organization we had the opportunity to collaborate with to deliver supplies to teachers this year.
Amazon recently worked with Jones and the ClearTheList Foundation to purchase thousands of items from hundreds of Amazon Wish Lists for educators. We received support from some amazing partners including Jessica Alba, bloggers The Lucky Few, Patti Wagner, and Ami Desai and influencers including Cynthia Harper, Adam Ali, and Rachel Earls.
This effort also included a surprise for teachers from Woodville Independent School District in Woodville, Texas, with the announcement of a $30,000 donation along with 100 Fire HD 8 Kids Edition tablets to support virtual learning for their students.
Giving back with Becky G
Given the unique challenges school-sponsored arts programs face during the pandemic, finding ways to keep budding artists engaged and inspired is more important than ever. That’s why Amazon teamed up with singer, songwriter Becky G to provide $20,000 in materials and equipment for the music program at her former elementary school, Oak Street Elementary in Inglewood, California. These donations will help the school meet the requirements necessary to become a certified “visual and performing arts school,” with items like headphones, music stands, and keyboards.
Given the unique challenges school-sponsored arts programs face during the pandemic, finding ways to keep budding artists engaged and inspired is more important than ever. That’s why Amazon teamed up with singer, songwriter Becky G to provide $20,000 in materials and equipment for the music program at her former elementary school, Oak Street Elementary in Inglewood, California. These donations will help the school meet the requirements necessary to become a certified “visual and performing arts school,” with items like headphones, music stands, and keyboards.
Becky shared the news with students from the music department in a surprise appearance via Zoom, where she congratulated both students and teachers for their continued hard work and commitment.
Amazon devices donations
With many schools moving to virtual classrooms, teachers and students are relying on technology to stay connected. At the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, we worked with a variety of organizations, including schools, to provide $5 million in devices globally. Some of these devices included Fire tablets, Fire Kids Edition tablets, eero WiFi systems, and Kindle devices.
With many schools moving to virtual classrooms, teachers and students are relying on technology to stay connected. At the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, we worked with a variety of organizations, including schools, to provide $5 million in devices globally. Some of these devices included Fire tablets, Fire Kids Edition tablets, eero WiFi systems, and Kindle devices.
As we move through the current school year, this technology will continue to help students gain access to educational content and facilitate communication among students, teachers, and parents in a safe environment.
Mohammad Ahmad, Amazon Future Engineer "Teacher of the Year" award recipient and teacher at the Bronx Academy of Letters in Bronx, New York.
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Amazon Future Engineer "Teacher of the Year" donations
This year, Amazon honored our first-ever "Teacher of the Year" award recipients through our Amazon Future Engineer program. This award celebrated 10 teachers for bringing computer science education to students from underserved and underrepresented communities. Each of the ten award-winning teachers received a prize package valued at over $50,000 to be used to benefit their school and students.
This year, Amazon honored our first-ever "Teacher of the Year" award recipients through our Amazon Future Engineer program. This award celebrated 10 teachers for bringing computer science education to students from underserved and underrepresented communities. Each of the ten award-winning teachers received a prize package valued at over $50,000 to be used to benefit their school and students.
In addition to the contest’s original $25,000 award, Amazon surprised teachers with $25,000 in school supplies, including Amazon Fire HD 8 Tablets, classroom essentials from Amazon Basics, and additional items from Amazon Essentials.
Giving back with Amazon
Amazon offers several ways for customers to join us in celebrating and supporting educators this school year. Read about a few of these options below.
Amazon offers several ways for customers to join us in celebrating and supporting educators this school year. Read about a few of these options below.
AmazonSmile
AmazonSmile is a simple way for customers to support their favorite charities every time they shop with Amazon, at no extra cost. Customers can shop AmazonSmile at smile.amazon.com or in the Amazon Shopping app, available in the App Store for iOS or Google Play for Android.
AmazonSmile is a simple way for customers to support their favorite charities every time they shop with Amazon, at no extra cost. Customers can shop AmazonSmile at smile.amazon.com or in the Amazon Shopping app, available in the App Store for iOS or Google Play for Android.
AmazonSmile supports more than a million charities, including more than 150,000 eligible education-related charities like schools and PTAs. To give back while checking off your school shopping list, simply start your school shopping here.
AmazonSmile Charity Lists
Customers can shop Charity Lists to easily donate items of need to organizations of their choosing. Our Charity Lists give non-profits an easy way to create lists of items they need while providing a convenient way for customers to donate them. Customers can shop thousands of Charity Lists, and can even search for education-specific charities.
Customers can shop Charity Lists to easily donate items of need to organizations of their choosing. Our Charity Lists give non-profits an easy way to create lists of items they need while providing a convenient way for customers to donate them. Customers can shop thousands of Charity Lists, and can even search for education-specific charities.
Donate with Alexa
Customers who wish to make a monetary donation to the charity of their choice can do so with any Alexa-enabled device. Simply say, “Alexa, I want to make a donation” to get started.
Customers who wish to make a monetary donation to the charity of their choice can do so with any Alexa-enabled device. Simply say, “Alexa, I want to make a donation” to get started.
